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James  Jensen. 


A  Biographical  Sketch  ] 

1 

OF  ^ 


JAMES  JENSEN 


J.  M.  TANNER 


THE  DESERET  NEWS 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 

19H 


'^^ 


ft 


s. 


Bancroft  Library 


Foreword. 


It  was  the  intention  originally  to  summarize 
briefly  the  leading  events  in  the  life  of  James 
Jensen.    Contrary  to  all  expectations,  the  sub- 
ject matter  of  this  small  volume  grew  beyond 
K  the  limitations  put  upon  it.    The  writer,  believ- 

[;^  ing  that  many  of  the  events  connected  with  this 

JJ"  biography    and   belonging   to   the    history    of 

Forest  Dale  would  be  a  source  of  interest  to 
the  people  generally  of  the  Ward,  therefore 
obtained  the  consent  of  the  Bishop  to  the  publi- 
cation of  his  biography  in  book  form.  This 
^  consent  was  given  with  great  reluctance  on  the 

^  part  of  Bishop  Jensen  whose  fears  about  ''be- 

coming  modesty,"   ''undue   pretentions,"    and 
"adverse  criticism"  had  to  be  overcome  by  per- 
sistent effort  and  persuasion.     The  author  as- 
£^  sumes  all  responsibility  for  whatever  publicity 

O  this  volume  may  acquire.    If  its  subject  matter 

should  prove  as  interesting  to  the  reader  as 
it  has  been  to  the  writer,  the  latter  will  have 
no  apology  to  make  for  offering  this  book  to 
the  members  of  the  Ward  and  the  friends  of  its 
worthy  Bishop. 

The  Author. 


Index. 

PAGE 

Birth  and  Early  Boyhood 1 

In  the  Hand-Cart  Company  of  1857 13 

Early  Life  in  Utah 42 

On  a  Mission 62 

Residence  in  the  Second  Ward 92 

Bishop  of  Forest  Dal? HI 

Character  Sketch 134 

Appendix  A 150 

Appendix  B  162 

Appendix  C 171 

Family  Genealogy 188 


James  Jensen 


CHAPTER  I 

BIRTH  AND  EARLY  BOYHOOD 

Somewhere  between  forty  and  fifty  miles 
west  of  Copenhagen,  on  the  Island  of  Sj eland, 
was  located  the  little  village  of  Haugerup, 
where  James  Jensen  was  born  June  7th,  1841. 
The  village  was  small  and  its  chief  resources, 
its  farms,  were  in  the  ownership  of  perhaps 
a  half  a  dozen  men.  The  others  in  that  little 
village  either  worked  under  the  local  land- 
lords or  sought  employment  in  the  town  of 
Soro.  The  village  of  Haugerup  was  in  those 
early  times  a  fruitful  land  for  the  Mormon 
elders,  who  induced,  it  is  said,  more  than  half 
of  the  people  there  to  join  the  Church. 

"My  parents  were  poor,''  said  Bishop  Jensen 
in  commenting  upon  the  early  circumstances 


2  JAMES  JENSEN 

of  his  boyhood.  But  that  could  hardly  be  true 
since  they  were  the  owners  of  one  cow,  which 
gave  them  some  right  to  recognition  in  the  so- 
called  middle  class  of  society.  Besides,  his 
parents  owned  their  home  which  was  covered 
by  a  thatched  roof,  and  in  the  style  peculiar  to 
those  days.  Conditions  not  unlike  those  of  his 
parents  may  be  found  in  many  of  the  rural 
communities  of  Europe  at  the  present  time. 
The  family  at  that  time  sought  employment  at 
the  hands  of  others.  They  represented  that 
condition  of  thrift  which  comes  through  hard 
and  constant  toil. 

It  was  in  the  year  1855  that  the  Mormon 
elders  led  the  Jensen  family  into  the  waters  of 
baptism.  It  was  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  to 
them.  It  lifted  them  from  the  narrow  confines 
of  a  life  about  them  into  an  open  and  new 
world. 

To  the  parents  of  James  Jensen  there  were 
born  seven  children.  The  family  record  is 
given  as  follows : 

Father: 

Hans  Jensen,  born  December  19,  1816;  died 
April  24,  1880. 


BIRTH  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD.  3 

Mother: 

Sissie  Maria  Jacobson  Jensen,  born  Decem- 
ber 13,  1814;  died  February  16,  1898. 
Children: 

James  Jensen,  born  June  7,  1841. 

Karen  Jensen  Peterson,    born    October    6, 

1843. 

Christian  Jensen,  born  1845. 

Jacob  Hans  Jensen,  born  1847. 

Fredrick  Jensen,  born  1849. 

Soren  P.  Jensen,  born  1851. 

Sophia  Jensen,  born  1853;  died  1857. 

Christian  and  Frederick  died  before  the  fam- 
ily left  for  Utah. 

The  only  surviving  daughter  of  this  family 
reached  the  Valleys,  and  became  the  wife  of 
Bishop  Peterson  of  the  second  ward.  The 
three  remaining  sons  all  grew  up  to  be  men  of 
stable  character,  industrious,  and  progressive, 
and  turned  to  good  account  the  splendid  in- 
heritance of  a  strong  and  industrious  manhood 
bestowed  upon  them  by  their  parents. 

The  opportunities  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  in  his  early  boyhood  days  were  those 
common  to  his  time  and  environments.     He 


4  JAMES  JENSEN 

was  brought  up  in  a  school  of  hard  work. 
There  is  something  really  wonderful  in  the 
industrial  life  of  a  boy  who  from  his  earliest 
recollections  was  taught  the  sacred  duty  of  aid- 
ing the  parents  in  the  maintenance  of  the 
home.  James  went  with  his  father  to  the  town 
of  Soro  for  employment.  While  the  father 
was  working  in  the  garden  of  his  employer, 
the  boy  found  employment  in  a  rope  factory 
where  for  a  year  he  learned  and  practiced  the 
art  of  rope  spinning. 

Rope  was  an  important  item  in  those  days 
in  the  farmer's  business.  Well  fenced  pas- 
tures in  which  the  cattle  roamed  at  will  were 
not  known  then  as  they  are  now.  The  cattle 
were  staked  out  in  a  methodical  order  and 
cleaned  up  the  grass  thoroughly  as  they  went 
from  one  side  of  the  field  to  the  other.  Such 
sights  are  occasionally  seen  in  remote  rural 
districts  of  certain  European  countries  at  the 
present  time.  It  is  a  nice  geometrical  problem 
to  determine  an  accurate  method  of  stak- 
ing a  cow  so  that  as  she  circles  about  with- 
in the  radius  of  the  rope  given  her,  she 
can  be  made  to  clean  up  the  field  without 
leaving   here    and    there     considerable     spots 


BIRTH  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD,  5 

of  untouched  grass.  Then  the  Danish 
were,  as  they  are  now,  among  the  most  eco- 
nomical farmers  in  the  world.  Their  country 
is  small;  almost  every  square  rod  of  it  is 
put  to  the  most  highly  beneficial  uses.  The 
Danes  then,  as  now,  were  perhaps  the  best 
intensive  farmers  in  the  world.  Indeed,  Den- 
mark today  averages  forty  bushels  of  wheat 
to  an  acre — the  highest  of  any  nation. 

"Our  school  Hfe,''  said  Bishop  Jensen,  "did 
not  in  those  times  amount  to  much."  Peculiar 
circumstances  of  education  then  prevailed 
which  the  traveler  occasionally  witnesses  in 
some  parts  of  Europe  today.  The  schools  were 
then  graded  according  to  the  days  of  the  week. 
One  class  attended  Mondays,  Wednesdays, 
and  Fridays ;  the  other,  Tuesdays,  Thursdays, 
and  Saturdays,  so  that  three  days  each  week 
was  the  portion  of  every  child  that  attended 
school.  There  were  no  grades  and  the  system 
of  instruction  was  individual.  The  students 
were  taught  the  three  Rs,  and  given  a  little 
geography.  They  were  qualified  sufficiently  in 
the  art  of  reading  to  enable  them  in  after  life, 
if  they  diligently  desired  it,  to  enlarge  their 
learning  by  the  habit  and  process  of  reading. 


6  JAMES  JENSEN 

Work — hard,  systematic,  and  continuous  work 
— was  a  common  birthright. 

A  change  came  in  those  days  to  the  boy  who, 
under  sixteen  years  of  age,  had  learned  to  work 
so  well.  One  of  the  things  that  he  remembers 
was  his  employment  by  one  of  the  land-lords 
in  his  native  village  of  Haugerup.  "I  remem- 
ber," said  he,  in  speaking  of  those  early  times, 
"that  my  employer  brought  a  number  of  farm- 
ers to  see  how  straight  I  could  plow  a  furrow.'' 
No  wonder  that  the  Danes  have  become  such 
expert  farmers  when  the  ability  to  do  their 
part  of  the  work  on  the  farm  was  a  source  of 
such  pride.  No  wonder  in  later  life  James  Jen- 
sen was  sought  to  take  charge  of  a  large  farm. 
That  straight  furrow  in  his  boyhood  days 
meant  to  him  in  later  life  the  love  of  an  order- 
ly method  in  every  occupation  he  pursued.  He 
is  perhaps  not  conscious  of  the  fact  that  there' 
has  grown  up  in  the  ward  over  which  he  has 
presided  for  a  number  of  years  a  spirit  of  tidi- 
ness, a  love  of  cleanliness,  which  make  for  ex- 
cellent order  about  all  the  home  surroundings. 
Who  may  not  say  that  much  of  the  excellent 
taste  and  orderly  homes  in  Forest  Dale  are 
not  in  some  measure  the  indirect  result  of  that 


BIRTH  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD.  7 

straight  furrow  the  boy  was  ambitious  to  plow 
and  about  which  his  employer  was  so  proud. 

James  Jensen  was  baptized  into  the  Church 
on  the  21st  of  May,  1855  by  Elder  Ole  Larsen. 
From  that  time  on  a  new  relationship  sprang 
up.  Some  of  the  well-to-do  landlords  of  the 
village  joined  the  Church.  The  spirit  of  equal- 
ity and  brotherly  love  which  the  new  message 
had  brought  tO)  them  led  to  more  intimate  re- 
lations among  all  of  the  members  of  the  Church 
in  that  little  village.  Among  the  noble  spirits  of 
that  brotherhood  was  one,  Nels  Nelson,  a  man 
whose  generous  instincts,  broadened  by  his 
conception  of  the  Gospel,  led  him  to  consecrate 
his  wealth  to  the  aid  and  blessing  of  his  breth- 
ren about  him.  Nelson  became  the  benefactor 
of  James  Jensen  as  well  as  of  his  parents  and 
of  his  sisters  and  brothers.  He  took  James 
into  his  employ  and  aided  him  and  his  family 
to  emigrante  to  Utah.  On  reaching  the  Val- 
leys, the  boy  and  his  benefactor  separated — 
Nelson  going  to  Brigham  City,  and  James  re- 
maining in  Salt  Lake  City. 

As  years  went  on,  the  gratitude  of  the  boy 
increased,  and  the  appreciation,  and  love  of 
Jensen  for  his  friend  brought  to  the  latter's 


8  JAMES  JENSEN 

life  a  joy  of  the  rarest  quality.  Speaking  of 
the  last  communication  with  his  old-time 
friend,  Bishop  Jensen  relates  the  following 
touching  incident:  "A  few  years  ago  when 
my  friend  Nelson  was  in  Gentile  Valley,  I 
wrote  him  a  letter  inviting  him  to  pay  us  a 
visit  in  Forest  Dale.  I  was  anxious  to  see  him 
and  wanted  to  renew  some  of  those  old-time 
friendly  relations  that  I  had  enjoyed  with  him 
in  days  gone  by.  I  therefore  offered  to  meet 
all  his  expenses  if  he  would  only  come  and 
pay  us  a  visit.  It  was  not  many  days  after 
I  had  written  this  invitation  that  I  received 
word  that  my  friend  was  dead.  His  death  was 
so  sudden,  so  unexpected  that  I  ma^rveled 
about  it.  He  was  buried  in  Brigham  City,  and 
I,  of  course,  attended  his  funeral.  While  there 
his  wife  told  me  that  his  death  was  equally 
surprising  to  his  family.  The  letter,  she  said, 
which  I  had  written  to  him  had  a  very  peculiar 
effect  upon  his  feelings.  He  seemed  so  over- 
joyed by  the  manifestation  of  love  and  good- 
will which  the  letter  contained,  that  it  was  easy 
to  imagine  that  it  might  have  been  the  cause 
of  his  death." 

There  is  something  about  the  friendships  of 


BIRTH  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD.  9 

youth  and  their  lasting  effects  that  are  not 
found  in  the  friendships  of  the  later  periods 
of  life.  Such  friendships  are  so  free  from  os- 
tentation, and  from  sinister  motives  that  it 
may  be  truly  said  of  them  that  they  come  from 
the  fountains  of  the  heart.  The  peculiar  cir- 
cumstance herein  narrated  gives  a  beautiful  il- 
lustration of  the  value  of  early  friendships. 
They  seem  to  grow  and  ripen  with  years  and 
become  more  fervent  in  their  nature.  They 
are  free  of  all  taint  of  selfishness,  surrounded 
by  that  purity  from  which  they  are  really  be- 
gotten. "Oh,''  said  the  good  bishop,  as  he  re- 
lated this  little  story  from  the  experiences  of 
his  life,  "I  don't  know  that  that  is  really  of 
much  consequence."  It  does  not  take  many 
events  of  that  character  in  the  association  of 
men  to  portray  that  which  is  most  beautiful 
and  praiseworthy  in  life.  It  is  a  choice  bit  of 
reminiscence  full  of  encouragement  and  help 
to  those  who  cherish  such  memories  in  their 
own  lives.  The  boyhood  love  that  was  begot- 
ten on  a  plow  ripened  as  years  went  on  into 
that  brotherly  love  which  the  Great  Master  so 
warmly  commended. 

The  character  of  James  Jensen  could  not 


10  JAMES  JENSEN 

be  fully  comprehended  or  appreciated  without 
an  appropriate  reference  at  this  place  to  the 
parents  from  whom  he  inherited  the  sturdy 
qualities  of  his  manhood.  ''What  of  your 
mother/'  I  asked.  "She  came  to  the  Valleys 
and  died  here  in  Salt  Lake  City."  ''What  have 
you  to  say  of  her,"  I  asked.  "She  was  a  good,  • 
kind,  helpful,  loving  mother.  I  was  with  her 
when  she  died.  I  remember  so  well  her 
last  words  as  I  stood  beside  her  bed.  She 
raised  both  hands  and  exclaimed:  'James, 
I  thank  God  for  my  children !' "  What  a 
beautiful  illustration  of  a  God-given,  motherly 
instinct!  How  true  she  was  to  the  God  who 
had  implanted  within  her  the  quality  of  moth- 
erhood !  Was  she  proud  of  her  children  ?  Yes, 
more  than  that.  In  them  she  saw  the  fulfill- 
ment of  a  divine  command.  As  she  was  just 
on  the  eve  of  returning  to  her  God  to  give  an 
account  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  there 
loomed  up  before  her  mind  that  first  great  com- 
mand of  her  Maker.  She  had  kept  well  and 
conscientiously  that  divine  injunction.  For 
that  she  was  grateful  from  the  innermost  depth 
of  her  heart.  That  one  expression  was  the 
highest  and  best  in  her  life.     It  was  a  grand 


BIRTH  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD.  11 

conception  which  she  had  of  her  life  and  her 
responsibility  to  her  Maker.  There  was  in 
those  words  a  beautiful  testimony  of  the  di- 
vine mission  of  motherhood.  "What  about 
your  father/'  I  continued.  "Well,"  he  replied, 
"he  was  a  good  man  and  industrious.  After 
he  came  to  Utah  he  entered  the  employment  of 
Isaac  Groo.  When  my  father  died  Isaac  spoke 
at  his  funeral  and  took  for  his  text,  'An  honest 
man  is  the  noblest  work  of  God.'  His  confi- 
dence in  my  father's  honesty,  he  expressed  in 
the  course  of  his  remarks."  Thus  the  father 
died  with  the  greatest  of  all  assets  placed  to 
his  credit,  that  of  being  an  honest  man.  The 
parents  of  James  Jensen  thus  gave  to  their 
child  a  birthright  more  precious  than  worldly 
wealth,  more  enjoyable  than  the  passing  honors 
of  their  generation. 

The  early  boyhood  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  closed  in  his  native  land  at  the  age  of 
sixteen.  That  early  life  was  perhaps  unevent- 
ful, but  it  contained  some  choice  events  how- 
ever insignificant  in  themselves  which  make 
for  the  highest  and  best  in  human  existence. 
There  are  in  our  days  so  many  false  ideals  of 
life,  so  many  evasions,  so  much  shirking  of 


12  JAMES  JENSEN 

life's  duty  and  the  responsibility  of  life,  that 
an  industrious  boyhood,  containing  a  few  cir- 
cumstances so  helpful  in  the  subsequent  ex- 
periences of  life,  is  worth  more  than  a  passing 
consideration.  It  is  more  than  an  idle  curi- 
osity which  prompts  us  to  ask  in  the  presence 
of  a  splendid  manhood.  To  what  was  such  a 
manhood  due  and  what  circumstances  were 
foremost  in  unfolding  it  ? 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  13 
CHAPTER  11. 

IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857. 

The  Jensen  family  left  Copenhagen  on  the 
18th  of  April,  1857,  with  a  company  of  emi- 
grants bound  for  Zion.  The  Gospel  had  awak- 
ened within  the  lives  of  that  humble  family  a 
new  hope,  but  however  fond  to  their  hearts 
the  expectations  of  a  new  and  better  land  were, 
they  realized  that  trials  and  hardships  would 
befall  them.  They  had  heard  of  the  experi- 
ences of  others,  and  in  their  humble  homes 
they  listened  to  the  stories  of  the  new  move- 
ment to  build  up  far  in  the  distance  in  a  des- 
ert land  a  new  Zion  to  their  God.  Life  in  their 
native  country  was  reduced  then,  as  it  is  now, 
to  the  almost  dead  level  of  certainty.  Every 
day  was  similar  in  all  the  experiences  of  the 
masses  to  all  the  days  that  had  gone  before  it. 
The  father  had  been,  in  the  year  1848,  drafted 
into  the  Danish  army.  For  three  years  the 
responsibility  and  care  of  the  home  had  been 
left  to  the  determined  and  industrious  mother. 


14  JAMES  JENSEN 

It  was  therefore  with  some  feelings  of  relief 
that  they  escaped  many  of  the  unpleasant  ex- 
periences to  which  they  had  been  subjected. 
Conditions  could  not  be  much  worse.  Besides 
they  knew  that  the  new  land  of  America  of- 
fered better  and  wider  opportunities  for  ma- 
terial progress.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  what 
emotions,  hopes,  and  wonderments  swayed  the 
human  heart  in  taking  up  the  long  and  tedious 
journey  which  they  must  undergo. 

The  company  crossed  directly  over  from 
their  native  land  to  Hull  in  England,  where 
they  were  transferred  from  the  boat  to  the 
railway  cars  to  continue  their  journey  on  to 
Liverpool,  the  headquarters  of  the  Mormon 
Church  in  Europe  in  those  days.  At  that  great 
seaport  city  they  were. lodged  in  a  cheap  hotel 
m  keeping  with  their  material  condition  in  life. 
As  soon  as  preparations  had  been  made,  the 
company  embarked  upon  the  sailing  ship  West 
Moreland,  whose  captain's  name  was  Deacon. 
The  ship  set  sail  on  the  25th  of  April,  and  after 
five  weeks  reached  its  destination  in  Phila- 
delphia on  the  2nd  of  June. 

Those  early  days  about  Philadelphia  wer^ 
most  charming.     The  company  was  not  long 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  15 

in  making  ascent  up  the  bay  and  river  until  a 
landing  place  was  reached.  If  any  place  in 
the  world  could  give  a  foreigner  an  exalted  im- 
pression of  America,  it  was  the  scenery  about 
that  city.  A  little  circumstance  which  occurred 
as  they  made  their  way  up  the  river  showed 
the  general  temper  of  those  foreigners  who 
were  seeking  homes  in  a  distant  land.  They 
passed  on  their  way  an  American  man-of-war ; 
and  as  the  emigrants  beheld  that  emblem  of 
national  power,  they  raised  their  voices  from 
the  deck  in  loud  intonations  of  cheers  and  hur- 
rahs. The  captain  of  the  battleship  returned  a 
salute  of  welcome  to  the  foreigners  by  firing 
the  guns  from  the  ship.  It  was  an  auspicious 
welcome  and  unpremeditated,  as  it  was  a  spon- 
taneous outburst  of  enthusiasm  for  their  new 
fatherland. 

They  were  now  prepared  to  take  their  de- 
parture from  the  vessel  on  which  they  re- 
joiced, suffered,  sung,  and  prayed  together. 
Besides,  as  the  West  Moreland  lay  in  the  har- 
bor at  Liverpool,  five  young  couples  were  mar- 
ried by  a  returning  elder,  whose  name  is  given 
as  John  Kay.  Their  outburst  of  joy  was  soon 
turned  to  feelings  of  sadness  by  the  unhappy 


16  JAMES  JENSEN 

news  that  came  to  them  of  the  assassination  of 
Parley  P.  Pratt  in  Texas.  Though  not  per- 
sonally known  to  the  emigrants,  they  were  fa- 
miliar with  his  writings.  That  wonderful 
book,  ''The  Voice  of  Warning,"  had  been  a 
most  potent  factor  is  arousing  within  them  a 
new  religious  life,  and  the  conviction  that  the 
new  message  which  it  proclaimed  came  from 
God.  However,  they  were  prepared  to  take  up 
their  journey  westward. 

They  were  met  by  John  Taylor  and  Angus 
M.  Cannon  on  their  landing  in  Philadelphia 
and  directed  and  counseled  by  them  in  their 
future  journey  toward  Zion.  They  were  soon 
on  their  way,  finally  reaching  Iowa  City,  the 
western  terminus  of  the  railroad  in  those  early 
days.  Upon  reaching  this  place,  they  were 
escorted  beyond  the.  town  a  distance  of  three 
or  four  miles  to  a  small  grove  through  which 
a  beautiful  stream  of  water  ran.  Here  was 
opened  negotiations  for  their  hand-carts,  to 
which  they  were  soon  to  hitch  themselves  in 
their  journey  across  the  plains.  Much  excite- 
ment naturally  prevailed.  The  little  money 
that  the  emigrants  had  at  their  command  would 
not  go  far  in  the  preparation  for  the  journey 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  17 

of  thirteen  hundred  and  thirty-four  miles  in 
the  most  difficult  mode  of  travel.  The  inactive 
life  on  the  vessel  and  railroad  was  soon 
changed  into  the  most  strenuous  exertions  re- 
quired of  men  and  women  whose  occupation 
was  now  to  pull  laboriously  a  rude  two- 
wheeled  wagon  over  the  rolling  hills  of  Iowa, 
through  the  sands  of  Nebraska,  over  the  hills 
of  Wyoming,  and  up  over  the  plateaus,  and 
through  the  mountains  to  the  goal  of  their  am- 
bitions. 

As  the  Saints  of  the  hand-cart  company, 
camped  in  the  little  grove  a  short  distance  from 
Iowa  City,  were  carrying  their  preparations  for 
the  journey  forward,  they  were  naturally  in  a 
more  or  less  feverish  state  of  excitement.  Their 
anxiety  made  them  restless  and  hastened  their 
movements  beyond  the  point  of  judicious  pru- 
dence. All  that  then  lay  before  them  was  en- 
tirely new;  the  well-built  and  well-kept  roads 
of  their  native  country  were  wholly  unlike  the 
pioneer  trails  they  were  soon  to  follow.  They 
hardly  heeded  the  old  adage  "Well  begun,  half 
done."  In  the  first  place  their  organization 
was  an  unsatisfactory  one.  Their  chosen  lead- 
er, after  Cowley  had  left  them  to  join  the  mule 


18  JAMES  JENSEN 

teams,  was  a  Scotchman,  who  could  not  under- 
stand their  language  and  who  was  more  or  less 
unsympathetic  in  his  demeanor  toward  them. 
They  were  a  band  of  converts,  confiding,  trust- 
ing, and  hopeful.  In  their  religious  zeal  they 
did  not  make  calculations  for  the  weaknesses 
of  human  nature  and  were  therefore  disap- 
pointed; when  they  came  to  deal  with  the  sel- 
fishness of  some  of  their  fellows.  O.  N.  Lil- 
jenquist  was  appointed  as  assistant  interpreter 
and  accompanied  the  ox-teams  and  those  emi- 
grants whose  methods  of  traveling  were  more 
pleasant. 

At  the  outset,  the  Saints  met  their  first  seri- 
ous trouble.  In  preparing  the  hand-carts  it 
was  the  plan  to  make  them  as  light  as  possible 
consistent  with  the  load  they  had  to  carry. 
These  hand-carts  consisted  of  two  wheels  and 
a  wooden  axle  over  which  a  shaft  was  at- 
tached. Over  the  axle  and  shaft,  strips  of 
wood  were  laid  so  as  to  form  a  bottom.  The 
bottom  of  the  box  was  made  of  canvas  which 
covered  the  wooden  strips.  As  they  journeyed 
along  the  way  with  these  crude  carts,  they 
constructed  bows  and  cover  so  as  to  provide 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  19 

shelter  from  the  sun  and  keep  rain  from  the 
contents  of  the  hand-carts. 

Upon  leaving  their  native  land,  the  Saints 
brought  with  them  the  choicest  of  their  house- 
hold effects,  which  they  believed  they  would  be 
able  to  transport  to  their  destination.  There  was 
extra  clothing,  some  feather-beds,  their  best 
suits,  some  books  and  souvenirs  which  they 
dearly  cherished.  Much  of  this  baggage  had 
to  be  eliminated  and  it  was  not  easy  always  to 
determine  which  they  preferred  to  leave  be- 
hind. They  hoped  that  these  treasures  which 
their  rude  hand-carts  would  not  contain,  would 
be  kept  by  some  friend  or  some  brother  or 
sister,  who  would  somehow  or  other  forward 
them  on  to  Zion.  In  such  expectations,  how- 
ever, they  were  disappointed  as  these  early 
treasures  were)  so  commingled  that  it  was  not 
easy  to  tell  who  the  owner  was.  Cases  of  dire 
privations  and  suffering  often  made  it  neces- 
sary to  use  what  was  nearest  at  hand,  so  the 
effects  often  of  one  company  of  emigrants  was 
laid  under  contribution  to  the  necessities  of 
those  who  followed.  ''We  never  heard  any 
more  about  the  things  we  left  behind  us,''  was 
the  plaintive  remark  often  heard  from  the  lips 


20  JAMES  JENSEN 

of  the  Saints,  who,  in  Utah,  often  heartily 
wished  they  might  come  in  possession  of  their 
cherished  treasures.  Some  .of  these  valuable 
possessions  were  sold,  and  the  Saints,  whether 
leaving  their  things  to  the  care  of  some  trusted 
person  or  whether  selling  them,  shed  tears  of 
disappointment  when  they  found  themselves 
unable  to  take  with  them  those  little  conveni- 
ences which  they  believed  would  be  so  helpful 
amid  the  hardships  of  their  new  pioneer  homes. 
However,  four  mule  teams  were  provided 
for  the  company  for  the  purpose  of  hauling 
part  of  their  provisions  and  also  the  helpless 
and  sick  along  the  journey.  This  arrange- 
ment, though,  gave  rise  to  discontent,  as  the 
teams  were  often  ahead  of  the  hand-carts  in- 
stead of  behind  them  to  suport  the  men  and 
women  in  their  trying  march  across  the  rolling 
hills  of  Iowa.  The  Saints  at  the  outset  be- 
came disheartened  because  of  their  poorly- 
planned  organization  and  because  of  the  un- 
feeling manner  in  which  they  were  treated 
by  those  in  charge  of  the  teams.  The  cour- 
age that  comes  from  the  spirit  of  good  cheer 
and  the  exhilarating  affects  of  a  happy  enthu- 
siasm were  wanting  to  'the  toilers  of  this  hand- 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  21 

cart  company  of  1857.  Numbers  of  emi- 
grants took  sick  along  the  road  and  of  those 
quite  a  number  died.  Finally,  the  emigrants, 
driven  to  great  extremity,  made  a  collection  of 
the  little  money  that  had  been  carefully  treas- 
ured among  them  and  purchased  an  ox-team, 
whose  movements  and  assistance  they  could 
control.  The  ox-team  was  purchased  from  a 
passing  farmer,  and  the  sick  and  infirm  emi- 
grants were  given  such  meagre  accommoda- 
tions as  could  be  provided  by  this  ox-team  and 
wagon.  It  was  to  them  a  hospital,  given  in 
charge  of  C.  C.  A.  Christensen.  He  relates 
that  at  times  there  were  as  many  as  twenty 
persons  in  the  one  wagon  and  that  he  himself 
walked  the  entire  distance  of  334  miles  across 
Iowa  to  the  Missouri  River  at  Florence. 

Florence  at  this  time  was  a  way-station  at 
which  new  equipments  were  received  and  such 
preparations  were  made  as  the  experience 
across  Iowa  had  taught  the  Saints  were  nec- 
essary. Many  of  the  Saints  were  disheartened 
and  in  their  gloomy  discouragement  were  illy 
prepared  to  take  up  the  new  march  of  a  thou- 
sand miles  which  lay  before  them.  Some  few 
were  unwilling  to  move  forward  under  the  un- 


22  JAMES  JENSEN 

happy  conditions  which  surrounded  them  thus 
far  on  their  journey.  Their  leadership  was 
wholly  unsatisfactory.  They  needed  some  man 
in  whom  they  had  confidence,  a  man  familiar 
with  their  language,  their  customs  and  their 
needs,  a  man  who  could  awaken  within  them  a 
new  zeal  and  a  helpful  enthusiasm.  Their  needs 
were  happily  provided  by  one  who  fortunate- 
ly met  them  at  this  time,  a  man  whose  name 
has  always  been  held  in  loving  remembrance 
by  those  who  cheerfully  accepted  him  as  their 
leader  and  to  whom  they  yielded  their  loyalty 
and  devotion.  While  the  Saints  were  at  Flor- 
ence, somewhat  distracted  over  their  past  ex- 
periences, they  were  joined  by  a  body  of  emi- 
grants from  Iowa  and  St.  Louis.  Among 
these  emigrants  was  a  Danish  missionary  who 
had  been  in  Utah  and  who  had  been  remem- 
bered with  feelings  of  affection  and  admira- 
tion by  the  Saints  in  their  native  land  before 
he  had  even  emigrated  to  Zion.  He  was  in 
the  midst  of  his  preparation  to  join  the  ox- 
team  company  of  Saints.  When  the  condi- 
tion of  the  hand-cart  company  became  known 
to  the  emigrant  agent,  James  A.  Little,  this 
new   leader,   Christian   Christiansen,   was   ap- 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  23 

pointed  to  take  charge  of  the  hand-cart  com- 
pany. His  appointment  was  hailed  with  de- 
Hght.  How  helpful  the  spirit  of  good  cheer 
and  loving  confidence  is  to  the  burdened  soul 
was  wonderfully  manifested  in  the  eagerness 
with  which  those  Danish  Saints  renewed  their 
journey. 

Christiansen  was  a  man  with  capacity  to  lead 
and  to  inspire  confidence.  He  began  at  once 
to  appoint  the  captains  for  the  four  divi- 
sions into  which  the  company  was  organized. 
The  company  at  this  time  consisted  of  544 
persons.  They  had,  all-told,  68  hand-carts, 
3  wagons,  10  mules,  and  1  cow,  but  the  cow 
did  not  long  survive  on  the  journey.  The 
captains  of  this  company  were  C.  C.  N.  Dorius, 
Ferdinand  Dorius,  C.  C.  A.  Christensen,  and 
O.  C.  Olsen. 

They  left  Florence  on  the  3rd  of  July  on 
their  march  over  the  trails  which  the  pioneers 
had  made  ten  years  before.  The  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  one  of  that  band  of  toiling 
travelers.  Misfortune  overtook  him  and  the 
rest  of  his  family  when  only  two  miles  out 
from  Florence.  They  broke  one  of  the  wheels 
and  were  obliged  to  return  for  repairs.     In 


24  JAMES  JENSEN 

the  midst  of  that  band  of  emigrants  might 
have  been  seen  the  elder  Jensen  and  his  fam- 
ily, toiling  to  move  their  two-wheeled  vehicle 
over  the  sandy  plains  of  Nebraska.  The  father 
and  his  son  James  constituted  the  wheel-team 
and  younger  brother  and  sister  Karen  were 
leaders.  The  mother  pushed  on  the  cart  from 
the  rear  and  opposite  her  a  small  boy  seven 
years  old  trudged  along,  hanging  to  the 
cart  and  making  his  way  the  best  he  could.  In 
that  rude  cart  there  lay,  for  some  distance  on 
the  journey,  the  youngest  child,  a  child  be- 
tween one  and  two  years  of  age.  The  journey 
was  indeed  trying  upon  the  infants  who  con- 
stituted a  part  of  those  emigrants.  The  little 
Sophia,  by  name,  lay  sick  and  suffering,  and 
over  its  emaciated  form  the  mother  gazed  in 
constant  anxiety  and  with  feelings  of  intense 
distress.  She  did  all  that  lay  in  her  power  to 
provide  it  with  such  comfort  as  could  be  found 
upon  such  a  journey.  Her  cares,  her  anxieties, 
and  her  tears  proved  futile;  and  when  at  last 
her  little  one  succumbed,  it  was  placed  away 
in  mother  earth  with  only  such  provisions  for 
burial  as  could  be  provided  under  such  cir- 
cumstances.   A  sieve  was  placed  over  its  face 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  25 

and  its  little  form  covered  by  the  earth  that 
was  taken  from  its  grave. 

Their  captain  was  compelled  to  make  new 
arrangements  as  the  Saints  progressed  on  their 
journey.  The  burdens  among  them  became, 
from  one  circumstance  or  another,  more  and 
more  uneven.  As  men  and  women  lost  their 
strength  their  loads  had  to  be  lightened  and  the 
stronger  were  required  to  share  the  burdens 
of  the  weak.  In  this  company  were  four  girls, 
strong,  hearty  and  happy.  Their  equipments 
were  lighter  than  those  families  whose  loads 
were  incumbered  by  one  or  more  small  chil- 
.  dren.  These  good  souls — ^their  names  would  be 
recorded  on  these  pages  if  they  had  been  kept* 
— have  ever  been  held  in  grateful  remembrance 
by  those  they  so  cheerfully  and  lovingly  aided 
in  their  trying  journey  with  hand-carts  across 
the  plains. 

The  first  night  on  this  journey  was  passed 
at  Papio  creek,  where  the  conditions  of  the 
hand-cart  company  were  more  closely  exam- 
ined. An  examination  was  made  of  the  physi- 
cal conditions  of  the  emigrants.     Their  wise 


*  The  names   of  two  are,   Christina   Green,   Mrs. 
Laurentzen  (Lund). 


26  JAMES  JENSEN 

captain  and  his  counselors  had  before  them  the 
intense  suffering  of  the  hand-cart  company 
which  had  crossed  the  plains  the  year  before. 
The  warning  which  the  misfortunes  of  that 
company  carried  with  it  could  not  be  disre- 
garded and  every  effort  was  made  to  thin  the 
ranks  by  requiring  those  who  were  not  suit- 
ably prepared  for  the  journey  to  return  to 
Florence  and  await  later  opportunities  to  reach 
the  Valleys. 

Although  the  company  had  been  furnished 
four  mule  teams  to  be  used  for  the  support 
of  the  emigrants,  those  in  charge  of  the  teams 
were  still  unmindful  of  their  duties  to  their 
plodding  brethren  and  sisters.  They  continued 
to  go  ahead  instead  of  remaining  behind  and 
were  therefore  a  source  perhaps  of  as  much 
annoyance  as  they  were  of  assistance.  There 
were  aged  people  and  those  in  poor  health 
who  had  to  be  turned  back,  eager  as  they 
were  to  proceed  and  willing  as  they  were  to 
take  their  chances  against  the  certain  failure 
that  lay  before  them.  Among  those  turned 
back  was  a  Swede  by  the  name  of  Hulberg. 
He  had  a  wife  and  two  small  children;  and 
believing  that  the  wife  was  too  feeble  for  the 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  27 

journey,  he  was  advised  to  remain  in  Florence. 
The  disappointment  was  more  than  he  could 
endure,  and  after  the  company  had  started  on 
he  determined  to  proceed  in  its  rear  unde- 
tected until  it  would  be  too  late  for  him  to 
look  backward.  After  the  company  had  trav- 
eled a  distance  of  fifty  miles,  he  again  joined 
it.  Much  of  the  way  he  had  carried  his  chil- 
dren and  even  his  wife  upon  the  cart  which 
he  was  able  to  pull  by  means  of  his  superior 
strength  and  irresistible  desire  to  reach  the 
land  of  Zion. 

On  the  9th  of  July  the  company  reached  the 
Elkhorn  River  and  were  soon  carried  across 
the  stream.  Two  days  later  they  reached  the 
Platte  and  on  the  16th  came  to  Loup  Fork, 
one  of  the  tributaries  of  that  river.  Here  a 
more  difficult  and  somewhat  dangerous  exper- 
ience awaited  the  emigrants.  The  river  at  the 
point  where  they  were  to  ford  it  was  nearly  a 
mile  wide.  Its  frequent  sand-bars  and  quick- 
sands and  deep  holes  made  it  necessary  to 
secure  reliable  guides  across  the  stream.  For 
this  purpose  Indians  familiar  with  the  stream 
were  brought  into  service.  It  was  necessary 
to  raise  the  boxes  of  the  wagons  so  as  not  to 


28  JAMES  JENSEN 

damage  their  contents  and  to  hitch  to  each 
of  them  something  Hke  ten  yoke  of  oxen. 
The  empty  hand-carts  were  pulled  across, 
by  the  strongest  members  of  the  company, 
and  the  women  folk  were  placed  on  the 
backs  of  horses  behind  the  Indians  where  they 
were  often  compelled  to  cling  to  the  nude 
bodies  of  their  protectors  and  guides.  Speak- 
ing of  his  experience  at  Loup  Fork,  James  says 
that  in  his  hand-cart  the  little  children  were 
placed,  and  that  when^  in  the  deepest  parts  of 
the  stream  the  water  raised  so  high  that  there 
was  barely  enough  room  for  the  children  to 
breath  above  the  current  of  the  water  in  which 
they  were  sitting  in  the  space  below  the  cover. 
The  task  at  Loup  Fork  was  full  of  difficulties 
and  required  something  like  two  days  to  ac- 
complish. The  good  captain  used  every  pre- 
caution to  keep  those  who  were  wading  in  the 
stream  from  being  swept  down  by  its  swift 
current.  It  was  even  necessary  to  shift  their 
course,  as  the  quick-sand  changed  the  bed  of 
the  stream,  in  order  to  avoid  the  deep  places 
which  had  been  cut  out  in  that  treacherous 
river.      No   accidents   occurred;   they   all   re- 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  29 

joiced  in  the  good  fortune  which  their  care 
and  prudence  had  vouchsafed  to  them. 

At  this  point  N.  V.  Jones  and  others  were 
engaged  in  the  erection  of  houses  so  as  to  af- 
ford a  settlement  from  which  the  passing  emi- 
grants might  obtain  supplies  and  where  those 
who  through  sickness  or  other  reasons  were 
unable  to  continue  their  journey  might  receive 
support.  Two  famiHes  from  this  company  on 
account  of  sickness  were  obHged  to  remain 
in  the  new  settlement  on  Loup  Fork. 

During  the  journey  care  had  to  be  observed 
in  safe-guarding  emigrants  against  the  dangers 
of  a  water  famine.  It  is  true  that  they  re- 
mained not  far  in  their  course  from  the  Platte 
River.  Sometimes,  however,  it  was  necessary 
to  move  inland  in  order  to  obtain  better  roads, 
and  special  precaution  had  to  be  taken  to  reach 
regularly  at  night  some  suitable  watering  place. 
The  19th  of  July  was  a  memorable  day  in  the 
company's  experiences.  Through  the  deep 
sands  and  up  and  down  the  hills  they  pulled 
their  hand-carts  a  distance  of  seventeen  miles. 
The  struggling  efforts  of  human  beings  under 
such  conditions  are  almost  impossible  to  im- 
agine.   It  was  a  severe  strain  upon  the  physical 


30  JAMES  JENSEN 

strength  of  the  men  and  women  who  toiled  al- 
most to  the  point  of  exhaustion.  Indeed,  some 
of  the  emigrants  were  so  overcome  by  the 
superhuman  efforts  required  of  them  that  they 
fell  exhausted  by  the  way-side  and  were  unable 
to  reach  the  camp  at  night.  All  day  long  they 
had  toiled  without  water.  Their  thirst  became 
almost  unbearable  when  at  night,  in  their  fail- 
ure to  find  a  watering  place,  they  were  com- 
pelled to  lie  down  in  their  famished  condition. 
They  brought  up  those  from  the  rear,  and  the 
following  day  the  company  reached  Wood 
River  in  a  famished  condition  and  in  a  spirit  of 
gratitude  and  prayer. 

These  hand-cart  companies  were  made  up  of 
all  classes.  They  were  not  picked  men  as  those 
were  who  constituted  the  first  pioneers,  and 
it  may  truthfully  be  said  of  them  that  their 
heroic  efforts  beyond  question  surpassed  per- 
haps any  other  journey  known  in  the  history 
of  the  world.  The  tasks  of  the  women  were 
of  course  not  completed  at  the  close  of  the 
day's  journey.  Food  had  to  be  prepared,  chil- 
dren cared  for  by  the  loving  ministrations  of 
devoted  mothers.  Women  were  not  infrequent- 
ly in  a  delicate  condition.    At  Wood  River,  the 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  31 

wife  of  Niels  Sorensen,  after  the  exhausting 
journey  and  in  a  famished  condition,  gave  birth 
to  a  baby  girl.  She  had  retired  into  the  brush 
where  her  accouchment  was  accomplished  by 
the  aid  of  devoted  friends.  So  delicately  was 
the  matter  treated  that  the  circumstances  of  the 
new  birth  were  unknown  to  most  of  the  com- 
pany. On  the  morning  following  she  appeared 
again  with  her  infant  in  her  apron  ready  to 
pursue  the  journey.  She  had  not  murmured; 
her  courageous  and  devoted  soul  knew  no  ob- 
stacles to  the  goal  of  her  ambition.  However, 
the  tender  regard  that  was  felt  for  her  in  such 
trying*  circumstances  led  to  the  preparation  of 
such  comforts  as  could  be  provided  on  such  a 
journey,  and  she  was  placed  in  one  of  the  wag- 
ons where  she  remained  until  able  again  to 
take  up  her  march  in  the  line  of  the  hand- 
cart train.  The  home  of  that  noble  mother 
was  later  located  in  Monroe,  Sevier  county, 
where  the  child  grew  up  to  womanhood  and 
became,  in  time,  a  grandmother.  She  is  still 
a  resident  of  the  town. 

As  the  summer  advanced,  the  watering 
places  became  more  scarce.  Only  those  who 
have  felt  the   famished  condition  that  comes 


32  JAMES  JENSEN 

from  hours  of  toil  without  the  aid  of  water  to 
quench  the  thirst  and  moisten  the  parched  Hps 
of  the  traveler,  can  even  imagine  the  sufferings 
which  the  traveler  must  undergo.  Strong  men 
felt  the  hardship  and  suffering  from  the  heat 
and  the  burning  sun  under  which  they  labor- 
iously struggled,  hitched  to  their  wagons.  On 
the  3rd  of  August,  one  of  their  number,  a  man 
only  thirty-six  years  old,  succumbed.  His  feet 
became  so  swollen  that  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  walk.  "We  got  him  into  the  hind  end  of 
a  wagon  but  he  died  before  we  reached  camp 
and  water.'' 

On  the  9th  of  August  the  hand-cart  company 
of  1857  reached  Fort  Laramie  on  the  Platte 
River  on  the  north  side  of  which  they  camped 
but  a  short  time.  Here  new  conditions  of  trav- 
eling awaited  them.  They  were  soon  to  enter 
the  Black  Hills.  Leaving  the  fiver,  the  task  of 
obtaining  water  became  more  hazardous,  al- 
though the  grass  and  the  cedar  wood  were 
more  abundant.  While  traveling  through  these 
hills  they  one  day  unknowingly  passed  the  only 
watering  place  to  be  found  along  that  day's 
journey.  To  add  to  their  discomfiture,  they  were 
obliged  to  pass  the  night  in  their  famished  con- 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  33 

dition  without  even  the  shelter  of  the  tents 
which  had  been  carried  on  in  the  wagons  by 
thoughtless  men  who  were  over-anxious  to 
reach  their  destination,  and  who  often  neg- 
lected the  burdened  Saints  in  these  long 
stretches  of  travel  over  the  rolling  hills  and 
difficult  roads.  Here  one  of  the  aged  Saints, 
father  of  the  Folkman  brothers,  was  lost.  For 
a  whole  day  a  search  was  kept  up  to  find  him. 
He  had  ventured  on  what  he  thought  was  a 
cut-off  that  he  might  quench  his  thirst  by  water 
which  he  hoped  to  find.  In  his  famished  and 
exhausted  condition  he  was  discovered  by  some 
trappers  who  kindly  brought  him  back  to  the 
company  from  which  he  had  wandered. 

As  might  naturally  be  expected,  the  ward- 
robe of  the  hand-cart  company  was  very  much 
limited.  Those  tiny  wagons  were  insufficient 
to  provide  the  necesssary  supply  of  food.  The 
wear  and  tear  on  such  a  journey  gave  their 
clothing  the  appearance  of  destitution.  Per- 
haps the  most  tolerable  circumstance  which 
made  them  more  or  less  indifferent  to  their  ap- 
pearance was  the  fact  that  they  were  all  on 
equal  footing.  However,  they  were  not  with- 
out hope  and  consequently  felt  the  enjoyment 


34  JAMES  JENSEN 

that  comes  from  the  expectation  of  better  days. 
Their  enthusiasm  often  broke  out  in  songs  and 
peals  of  mirth. 

It  would  be  strange  indeed,  if  in  such  a  com- 
pany some  amusement  did  not  come  from  in- 
stances of  a  mirth  promoting  character.  James, 
in  his  native  land,  had  never  known  such  a 
thing  as  a  prickly-pear.  His  introduction  to 
this  peculiar  inhabitant  of  the  deserts  and 
plains  made  a  somewhat  lasting  impression  up- 
on him.  On  such  a  journey  shoes  would  be 
the  first  article  of  clothing  to  yield  to  the  ex- 
cessive use  to  which  they  were  put.  When 
the  company  reached  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Platte  in  the  uplands  of  Wyoming,  they  were 
indeed  quite  generally  a  barefooted  band  of  pil- 
grims. If  their  feet  were  protected,  it  was  be- 
cause of  all  sorts  of  devices  to  which  they  re- 
sorted to  make  their  leather  the  most  service- 
able. James,  now  sixteen  years  of  age,  was 
the  wheel-man  in  the  team  opposite  his  father. 
During  those  long,  tedious  days  over  the 
parched  land,  they  found  themselves  in  want 
of  suitable  water  and  sometimes  without  any 
liquid  whatever  to  quench  their  thirst.  He  re- 
lates that  one  evening  he  started  out  with  oth- 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  35 

ers  in  search  of  water.  The  prickly-pears  could 
not  be  seen  while  he  was  making  his  way  back 
to  the  camp  after  nightfall,  and  his  feet  clad  in 
old  socks  to  which  his  mother  had  sewed  can- 
vas soles  were .  often  planted  on  the  thorny 
points  of  these  desert  plants,  which  produced 
the  most  painful  sensation.  Those  who  have 
known  something  of  this  prince  of  briars  will 
appreciate  the  excruciating  pain  from  which 
the  emigrants  suffered  when  they  came  in  con- 
tact with  them.  "On  my  return  to  the  camp," 
he  says,  'T  was  unable  to  pick  my  way.  One 
of  my  feet  would  no  longer  endure  the  pain.  I 
was  obliged  to  stop  and  remove  the  prickly- 
pears  from  my  feet.  Once  they  were  so  bad 
I  was  obliged  to  sit  down  to  remove  them. 
To  my  horrified  surprise  I  sat  on  a  bunch  of 
prickly-pears."  The  predicament  was  so  un- 
usual, the  surprise  so  painful,  that  the  circum- 
stance has  always  remained  a  land-mark  in  his 
recollections  of  those  hand-cart  days. 

The  above  circumstance  was  perhaps  not  so 
mirth  provoking  as  one  which  is  related  of  an 
old  man  whose  sense  of  smell  had  been  coni- 
pletly  destroyed.  He  had  wandered  some  dis- 
tance from  the  company  when  he  ran  across 


36  JAMES  JENSEN 

what  was  to  him  a  strange  and  peculiar  ani- 
mal. May  be  it  was  suitable  for  food ;  he  did 
not  know.  However,  he  would  make  the  ex- 
periment, kill  it  if  he  could,  and  let  those  in 
camp  say  whether,  from  their  knowledge  of  it 
and  their  experiences  in  the  wild  west,  it  was 
fit  for  human  consumption.  Taking  his  cane 
he  pursued  the  animal  until  it  was  overtaken, 
and  by  the  blows  which  he  rendered,  it  was 
finally  killed.  He  threw  the  little  striped  ani- 
mal over  his  shoulder  and  started  for  the  com- 
pany, with  the  game  he  had  procured.  Some- 
time before  he  reached  the  midst  of  his  friends 
he  discovered  them  retreating  in  horror.  The 
skunk  which  had  not  disturbed  him  in  the 
least  was  detestable  to  the  sense  of  smell  of  his 
friends.  The  old  man  was  saturated  by  the 
odor ;  his  presence  was  unbearable.  A  change 
of  clothing  where  no  extra  clothing  was  to  be 
had  could  not  relieve  the  situation.  After 
reaching  Deer  Creek  station,  where  the  old 
gentleman  met  his  son,  he  remained  over  for 
the  rest  of  the  season  and  later  came  on  to  the 
Valleys. 

At  Deer  Creek,  a  number  of  Mormons  were 
busily  engaged  in  erecting  a  station  for  the  ac- 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  37 

commodation  of  emigrants  and  for  the  express 
company  which  at  that  time  was  established  be- 
tween the  Missouri  River  and  Great  Salt  Lake 
City.  This  station,  however,  was  abandoned 
on  the  approach  of  the  army.  It  may  here  be 
said  that  while  the  Saints  were  pulling-  their 
rude  hand-carts  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
the  soldiers  of  the  United  States  army  were 
marching  along  the  south  bank  to  put  down  a 
rebellion  in  Utah,  a  rebellion  that  had  no  other 
existence  than  in  the  imagination  of  those  who 
had  received  with  credulity  the  utterly  false  re- 
ports sent  out  to  create  enmity  toward  the  Mor- 
mon people.  What  the  soldiers  and  the  officers 
thought  of  this  motley  company,  the  hand-cart 
train  of  men  and  women,  we  are  not  permitted 
to  know.  Marching  against  those,  whose  relig- 
ious devotion  and  self-sacrifice  were  so  manifest, 
must  have,  however,  often  appealed  to  the  more 
intelligent  soldiers  as  something  both  contradic- 
tory and  absurd.  The  commissary  train  of 
the  army,  however,  much  of  the  way  moved 
along  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  sometimes 
close  to  the  hand-cart  company.  Nothing  of 
an  unpleasant  nature  occurred.  The  provis- 
'  ions  of  the  army  were  ample  and  the  soldier? 


38  JAMES  JENSEN 

enjoyed  an  abundance  of  food,  while  their 
hand-cart  traveHng  companions  were  often  in 
dire  distress.  The  bacon  that  the  company 
brought  with  it  from  the  Missouri  River  soon 
became  wholly  unfit  for  use,  a  stench  m  the 
nostrils  of  the  Saints,  and  they  were  finally 
obliged  to  throw  much  of  it  away. 

One  circumstance,  however,  of  the  journey 
of  the  commissary  is  called  to  mind  when  it 
reached  the  Sweet  Water.  There  one  of  Uncle 
Sam's  fat  oxen  had  one  of  its  feet  crushed  by  a 
wagon  which  ran  over  it.  In  that  condition  it 
was  of  course  thought  unfit  by  the  captain  for 
the  food  of  his  men.  "He  walked  up  to  where 
we  were  standing,  and  in  a  half-joking  manner 
said,  'You  may  have  that  ox,  I  guess  you 
need  it.'  "  The  emigrants  were  not  at  that  time 
in  a  physical  condition  to  discuss  matters  of 
hygiene.  For  several  weeks  they  had  been 
without  meat  and  their  supply  of  flour  was  so 
low  that  they  had  been  compelled  to  re-divide 
their  rations.  It  was  remarkable  that  although 
they  passed  through  large  herds  of  buffaloes  on 
the  plains  they  did  not  venture  to  kill  any  of 
them.  They  were  afraid,  they  said,  of  the 
stampede  that   might  ensue   and   the  trouble 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  39 

which  might  come  to  them.  The  fact  is,  no 
doubt,  that  the  emigrants  were  not  hunters,  that 
they  had  Httle  or  no  amuntion,  and  were  there- 
fore not  in  a  position  to  enjoy  a  supply  of  suit- 
able meat  which  they  might  have  h'ad,  had  they 
been  more  frontiersmen  than  emigrants  from 
Scandinavia. 

As  they  began  to  ascend  the  eastern  plateau 
of  the  Rock  Mountains  they  met  teams  bring- 
ing on  supplies  of  flour  which  they  had  the 
opportunity  to  purchase.  They  gave  in  se- 
curity their  hand-cart  equipments ;  and  the  obli- 
gation which  they  assumed  to  pay  for  the  flour 
which  had  been  sent  to  their  relief  meant  in  re- 
turn the  help  they  would  be  able  to  give  in 
iays  to  come  to  other  emigrants  in  need  of  as- 
^.stance.  They  needed  9,200  pounds,  they  es- 
timated, to  carry  them  on  the  remainder  of  the 
journey  of  300  miles  to  vSalt  Lake.  The  supply 
was  insuflicient,  however,  and  at  Fort  Bridger, 
they  were  again  obliged  to  take  in  a  new 
supply. 

"On  the  22nd  of  August  we  arrived  at  Dev- 
il's Gate,  and  finally,  when  within  about  thirty 
miles  of  Salt  Lake  City  we  were  met  by  teams 
that  brought  for  our  nourishment  bread,  cake, 


40  JAMES  JENSEN 

and  fruit.  Among  the  sick  and  those  well-nigh 
worn  out,  the  fruit  was  divided  as  a  delicacy/' 
These  provisions  not  only  gave  strength  to  the 
bodies  that  were  already  greatly  emaciated 
from  the  long  journey  over  the  plains,  but 
filled  their  hearts  with  courage  and  gave  them 
the  assurance  of  the  loving  welcome  they 
would  receive  when  they  clasped  the  hands  of 
their  brothers  and  sisters  in  their  new  homes. 
The  closing  scene  of  that  memorable  journey 
brought  about  a  test  between  Iiuman  endu- 
rance and  the  endurance  of  the  animals,  the 
mule  teams,  which  had  been  assigned  to  the 
help  of  the  emigrants  on  the  journey.  Wearied 
though  the  emigrants  were,  they  reached  their 
destination  in  a  better  condition  than  the  mule 
teams  which  were  so  well  inured  to  hardships. 
"When  we  came  to  the  last  steep  hills  of  the 
mountain  sides,  our  mules  were  so  weak  that 
the  emigrants  were  obliged  to  help  them  over 
by  the  aid  of  ropes.  On  the  l3th  of  Septem- 
ber, a  Sunday,  we  marched  with  feelings  of 
thankfulness  and  grand  expectations  into  the 
city  of  the  Saints.  One  out  of  every  ten  of  our 
number  died  on  the  journey." 

Thus  ended  the  march  of  the  hand-cart  com- 


IN  THE  HAND-CART  COMPANY  OF  1857.  41  ^ 

pany  of  1857.     It  is  perhaps  to  be  regretted  i 

that  more  detailed  information  and  more  ac-  j 

curate  feelings  and  thoughts  of  the  Saints  un-  1 

der  these  trying  conditions  have  not  come  down  I 

tons.    Perhaps  it  is  well  that  the  veil  has  been  ^ 

drawn  tenderly  and  mercifully  over  so  many  j 

of  the  events  that  were,  no  doubt,  in  all  the  his-  i 

tory  of  our  pioneer  days  the  most  touching.  It  i 

is  not  too  much  to  say  that  had  those  bands  i 

of  sturdy  enthusiastic  emigrants  not  possessed  ] 

the  courage  that  comes  from  religious  hope^  l 

most  of  them  would  have  lain  down  by  the  | 

roadside  and  passed  into  eternity  long  before  ! 

it  was  possible  to  reach  the  goal  of  their  re-  j 

ligious  ambition.  J 


42  JAMES  JENSEN 

CHAPTER  III. 

EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH 

James  Jensen,  who  arrived  in  Utah  with  his 
parents  on  September  13,  1857,  was  one  of 
many  thousands  of  emigrants^who  looked  upon 
the  valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  with  joyful 
anticipations.  The  conditions  which  then  sur- 
rounded him  were  unlike  those  familiar  scenes 
of  his  native  land.  The  arrival  of  emigrants 
ten  years  after  the  pioneers  had  discovered  the 
mountain  fastnesses  which  was  to  be  their  fu- 
ture home  had  already  become  a  commonplace 
event.  The  surroundings  of  the  emigrants 
were  all  strange,  the  labor  was  new,  and  social 
conditions  were  peculiar  to  American  life  rath- 
er than  to  the  life  of  those  who  came  from 
foreign  countries,  especially  from  Scandinavia. 

The  emigrants,  however,  found  in  their 
brothers  and  sisters  in  Salt  Lake  Valley  a 
friendship  and  interest  which  gave  encourage- 
ment and  hope  to  the  new-comers.  Every 
effort   was   made   to  provide   them   with   the 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH.  43 

special  care  of  some  kind  friend  who  would 
introduce  them  to  the  new  life  they  were  about 
to  undertake.  "Bishop  Taft  of  the  9th  ward," 
said  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  ''offered  his 
fatherly  counsel  and  aid  in  behalf  of  my  father 
and  his  family.  He  was  a  kind-hearted,  good 
man,  and  we  have  always  respected  him  high- 
ly for  the  interest  he  manifested  toward  us. 
He  provided  what  work  he  could,  turned  over 
to  us  a  five-acre  piece  of  land  to  cultivate,  and 
taught  us  how  to  haul  wood  with  his  ox-team 
from  the  canyon.  We  had  never  been  familiar 
with  the  work  peculiar  to  the  people  in  those 
days.  My  father  had  really  never  seen  a  yoke 
of  oxen  hitched  together  for  service.  He  may 
therefore  be  excused  if  he  put  the  yoke  on  up- 
side down.  However,  we  were  not  long  in 
adapting  ourselves  to  our  new  employment 
and  we  took  up  our  tasks  in  a  vigorous  man- 
ner." 

In  those  days  the  old  fort  in  the  southwest 
part  of  the  city  had  been  abandoned.  At  dif- 
ferent places  around  the  city  part  of  the  old 
mud  walls,  which  were  intended  to  make  it  a 
fort,  could  still  be  seen.  The  fields  in  those 
days   extended  as  far  north  as  ninth  south. 


44  JAMES  JENSEN 

The  houses  generally  were  small  and  made  of 
adobes.  Speaking  of  the  condition  of  the 
soil,  Bishop  Jensen  says  that  it  was  not  con- 
sidered very  good  southeast  of  the  city.  "East 
of  Liberty  Park  it  consisted  largely  of  a  hard 
clay  and  had  to  be  worked  and  manured  be- 
fore it  could  be  made  very  productive." 

In  the  old  country  the  father  had  owned  a 
home  which  he  sold  for  eight  hundred  dol- 
lars. That  amount  was  insufficient  to  bring 
the  family  to  Zion.  The  father  was  here  with 
a  large  family  with  just  such  scanty  clothing 
and  comforts  as  could  be  brought  in  a  hand- 
cart. Rented  houses  in  those  days  were  quite 
out  of  the  question.  The  emigrants  began  at 
once  to  construct  such  habitations  as  limited 
opportunities  and  time  enabled  them  to  erect. 
The  father,  therefore,  entered  into  an  ar- 
rangement with  one,  Hans  Christenson,  by 
which  the  two  purchased  jointly  a  house  of 
two  rooms  for  their  two  families  in  the  10th 
ward  of  the  city.  ''Such  accommodations  were 
meagre,  but  they  provided,''  said  the  good 
Bishop,  "more  room  than  we  had  furniture  to 
occupy.  The  crop  of  that  year  was  fairly 
good.     My  father  and  I  worked  in  the  fields 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH.  45 

and  on  the  canal,  while  my  mother  and  sister 
gleaned  wheat.  Together  we  rejoiced  in  the 
plentiful  supply  that  came  to  us.  One  side  of 
our  room  was  set  apart  as  a  wheat-bin." 

He  had  not  been  long  in  his  new  home  when 
he  was  pressed  into  military  service.  The 
army,  whose  march  he  had  witnessed  along  the 
Platte  River,  was  held  back  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains  until  an  appeal  could  be  made  to  the 
Federal  Government  to  make  an  examination 
of  actual  conditions  in  Utah.  At  that  time 
James  Jensen  was  a  boy  of  only  sixteen.  He 
was  hardly  familiar  with  the  language,  but  he 
accepted  the  call  to  the  front  and  was  enlisted 
in  Walker's  Company  in  the  so-called  Echo 
Canyon  war. 

It  was  in  the  winter  season,  provisions  were 
scanty,  and  the  means  of  comfort  were  meagre. 
Much  of  the  work  of  the  soldiers  in  those  days 
consisted  of  guard  duty.  '1  was  detailed,''  he 
said,  *'to  night  guard  and  my  shift  was  from 
1 1  -.00  p.  m.  to  2 :00  a.  m.  We  were  not  per- 
mitted to  walk  to  and  fro  as  guards  in  the 
regular  service  now  move  when  on  duty.  We 
were  obliged  to  lie  down  so  as  to  keep  our- 
selves concealed  from  the  enemy.    The  guard 


46  JAMES  JENSEN 

was  often  placed  at  a  considerable  distance  up 
the  mountain  on  a  ridge  or  on  some  prominent 
point  for  observation  while  his  companions  of 
the  night  guard  slept  on  the  ground  farther 
down  the  hillside  in  some  secluded  spot  that 
protected  them  as  much  as  possible  from  the 
cold  winds.  I  was  an  old  country  boy  and  did 
not  of  course  understand  what  it  all  meant. 
It  was  so  strange,  the  country  was  wild  and 
weird,  and  I  often  naturally  became  frightened 
because  of  my  strange  situation  in  the  lonely 
mountains  where  we  were  threatened  by  an 
army  that  had  been  sent  up  against  us.  It  is 
not  difficult  under  such  circumstances  for  the 
imagination  to  change  all  sorts  of  objects, 
rocks,  trees,  and  bushes  into  soldiers  and  mov- 
ing armies.'' 

Not  only  were  the  surroundings  strange  to 
this  emigrant  boy,  but  the  movements  were 
often  beyond  his  understanding  and  he  was  in 
the  midst  of  those  who  spoke  to  him  a  strange 
language.  The  orders  of  his  superiors  were 
often  either  misunderstood  or  not  comprehend- 
ed. He  was  among  those  who  marched  around 
the  hillside,  up  and  down,  to  and  fro,  across 
the  country  that  their  numbers  might  be  exag- 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH.  47 

gerated  in  the  fears  and  minds  of  the  army. 
Some  of  the  generals  and  the  new  governor 
thought  the  mountains  were  full  of  men,  and 
Johnston's  army  was  therefore  restrained  by 
the  fear  which  such  tactics  created  within 
them. 

There  was  a  striking  contrast  in  the  com- 
forts of  the  soldiers  of  the  government  and 
that  anxious  band  of  volunteers  who  were 
holding  back  an  invading  army  till  the  Presi- 
dent could  learn  the  truth  of  the  statements 
upon  which  he  had  hastily  acted.  The  former 
had  provisions  at  that  time  in  wasteful  abun- 
dance; the  latter,  not  unfrequently,  felt  the 
pangs  of  hunger,  and  the  best  they  had  was 
a  scanty  supply  and  a  limited  variety.  This 
young  Danish  boy  had  not  yet  learned  to  ad- 
just himself  to  a  mountaineer's  life.  "About 
the  best  meal  I  ever  ate,"  he  related,  *'was  af- 
ter a  period  during  which  we  were  without 
food.  I  looked  up  an  empty  flour  sack,  turned 
it  inside  out,  and  carefully  brushed  from  it 
every  particle  of  flour.  The  little  I  could  get 
I  mixed  with  some  water  so  as  to  make  a  pan- 
cake which  I  cooked  on  the  coals.     It  made 


48  JAMES  JENSEN 

me  a  delicious  meal  for  which  I  was  very 
grateful/' 

As  soon  as  the  winter's  campaign  in  Echo 
Canyon  was  ended,  the  boy  returned  to  his 
home — the  home  where  he  expected  the  greet- 
ings of  loving  and  anxious  parents.  To  his 
surprise  it  had  been  deserted.  The  father  and 
family  with  their  old  friend,  the  hand-cart,  had 
joined  the  Move  southward  and  had  located  in 
Lehi.  Neighbors  had  also  left  their  homes. 
While  he  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  desolate 
scene  which  surrounded  him,  he  felt  the  sad- 
ness and  loneliness  of  his,  disappointed  hopes. 
While  anxiously  viewing  the  situation  and 
wondering  what  move  to  make  next,  his  father 
appeared  with  the  hand-cart.  The  boy  joined 
him  on  his  return  to  Lehi  where  the  family 
had  located  a  new  home.  Here  he  was  occu- 
pied for  some  time  in  the  construction  of  a 
dam  which  made  the  mill-pond  for  the  wate** 
power  of  the  old  Mulner  mill  where  later  the 
great  Lehi  Sugar  Factory  was  built. 

Next  year  the  Saints  returned  to  Salt  Lake 
City.  "We  sold  our  home,"  said  Bishop  Jen- 
sen, "for  a  few  yards  of  calico  and  returned  to 
Salt  Lake,  where  we  bought  out  Hans  Chris- 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH.  49 

tensen's  interest  in  the  home  he  and  my  father 
had  jointly  purchased.  We  now  had  a  house 
of  two  rooms,  more  room  than  we  knew  what 
to  do  with."  The  enlarged  home  became  the 
center  of  a  family  life  which  James  enjoyed 
until  he  reached  the  twenty-fourth  year  of  his 
manhood.  About  it  his  early  affections  cen- 
tered, and  the  industrious  life  of  its  inmates 
soon  began  to  bring  some  measure  of  comfort 
and  independence.  Each  year  brought  more 
conveniences,  better  accompiodations,  and  a 
higher  standard  of  living.  "We  lived,"  he 
said,  "in  those  times  very  much  as  our  neigh- 
bors lived;  the  articles  of  our  food  were,  of 
course,  limited.  Our  diet  consisted  chiefly  of 
bread,  and  of  molasses  which  my  mother  made 
from  beets.  Butter,  in  the  beginning,  we  made 
out  of  squash,  and  in  time  we  came  to  enjoy 
the  use  of  meat  which  in  earHer  days  had  been 
very  scarce.  Our  clothing  was  all  home- 
made. My  mother  spun  the  wool,  but  my 
father  who  was  used  to  the  loom,  wove  the 
cloth;  and  when  we  compared  our  circum- 
stances with  those  of  our  neighbors,  I  think 
we  did  very  well." 

After  the  old  home  life  had  been  resumed, 


50  JAMES  JENSEN 

the  Jensen  family  made  new  friends  and  found 
new  occupations.  The  Bishop  of  the  ward  in 
those  days  was  more  famiHar  than  he  is  now 
with  the  condition  of  every  family  entrusted  to 
his  care.  His  paternal  responsibility  brought 
him  into  intimate  relations  with  this  little 
flock.  Those  were  days,  too,  of  great  anxiety ; 
they  were  days  when  the  people  were  constant- 
ly reminded  of  their  helpless,  dependent  con- 
dition. The  grasshopper  and  other  insects  and 
thousands  of  difficulties  in  an  undeveloped 
land  made  them  feel  doubly  dependent  on  the 
Lord  they  had  chosen  to  worship.  "Petti- 
grew,"  he  said,  "was  our  Bishop  and  we  often 
worked  his  ox-team  on  shares.  He  was  a 
good  man  and  manifested  great  confidence  to- 
wards us.  I  remember  in  our  relations  with 
Bishop  Pettigrew  that  on  one  occasion  he  lost 
his  yoke  of  oxen.  It  was  his  custom  to  go  in 
the  evening  at  the  close  of  the  labors  of  the 
day  to  the  meetinghouse  to  pray;  men  sought 
then  divine  aid  for  their  immediate  needs,  di- 
vine help  in  extracting  them  from  difficulties 
peculiar  to  those  times.  Our  good  Bishop, 
therefore,  prayed  about  his  oxen.  He  sin- 
cerely believed  that  the  Lord  would  help  him 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH.  51 

to  find  them.  He  came  to  me  next  morning 
after  thus  engaging  in  prayer  and  said,  'James, 
I  have  had  a  dream  in  which  I  was  shown  that 
you  had  found  my  team,  and  I  wish  therefore 
that  you  would  go  in  search  of  them.'  In 
response  to  the  Bishop's  request  I  set  out  in 
the  morning  for  a  place  called  Dry  Creek.  As 
I  went  up  the  canyon  I  reached  the  forks  of 
the  road;  one  went  to  the  right,  the  other  to 
the  left.  I  did  not  know  which  one  to  take ;  I 
therefore  knelt  down  and  asked  the  Lord  to 
direct  me  and  when  I  arose  I  followed  the  im- 
pression that  came  over  me  and  took  a  direct 
line  to  the  place  where  the  cattle  which  Bishop 
Pettigrew  had  lost  were  feeding.  I  turned 
them  back  and  reached  the  Bishop's  home  with 
the  cattle  by  noon  that  day."  The  exhibition 
of  such  faith,  the  simplicity  of  such  worship, 
the  sincere  heartfelt  reliance  on  the  guidance 
of  a  divine  being  characterized  the  faithful 
men  and  women  of  those  times.  In  such  mani- 
festations of  faith  it  is  easy  to  comprehend 
the  fervent  and  devoted  lives  of  the  men  and 
women  whose  wonderful  faith  then  made  the 
desert  blossom  like  the  rose.  The  simple  life 
and  heartfelt  devotion  of  those  early  days  re- 


52  JAMES  JENSEN 

veal  to  us  the  process  by  which  the  character 
and  Hves  of  such  men  as  James  Jensen  have 
been  developed. 

About  this  time  there  came  to  this  young 
man  a  new  employment.  Brigham  Young 
was  an  excellent  judge  of  men;  and  those 
whose  aid  he  sought,  whose  counsel  he  needed 
were  gathered  around  to  promote  his  own  in- 
dividual interests  as  well  as  the  general  good 
of  the  Church.  Men  who  thus  came  into  his 
employ  were  those  whose  worthiness  had  come 
to  his  attention  and  whose  reputation  made 
them  desirable  in  his  service.  The  young  man 
now  began  his  first  employment  under  Brig- 
ham  Young  in  City  Creek  Canyon  about  six 
miles  from  the  limits  of  the  city.  Here  he 
engaged  in  hauling  logs  to  President  Young's 
sawmill.  He  was  no  longer  a  novice  in  the 
work  and  was  already  familiar  with  canyon 
life.  "Le  Grande  Young,"  he  says,  "was  in 
those  days  the  foreman  of  the  mill.  He  was  a 
splendid  boss,"  he  continued,  "and  always 
manifested  a  sympathetic  feeling  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  men.  I  can  well  remember  how  he 
insisted  that  we  should  be  well  cared  for  and 
that  we  have  plenty  of  good  food  to  eat.    The 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH.  53 

boys  all  learned  to  like  Le  Grande,  for  they 
considered  him  one  of  them.  I  remember  on 
one  occasion  that  President  Young  came  to 
the  mill  to  see  how  the  work  was  getting  on. 
I  happened  to  be  there  with  my  load  then,  and 
was  in  the  act  of  rolling  off  the  logs,  when 
President  Young  shouted,  *Stop,  James,  and  I 
will  show  you  how  to  get  that  log  off  in  an 
easier  way.'  He  mounted  the  wagon,  ar- 
ranged the  blocks,  and  taught  me  something- 
new.  I  thought  at  that  time  I  was  a  very 
good  hand  at  that  kind  of  work,  but  I  appre- 
ciated the  lesson  which  I  learned  from  our 
leader  who  knew  a  great  deal  more  about  un- 
loading logs  than  I  did." 

Not  many  years  had  elapsed  before  this  young 
man  was  thoroughly  initiated  into  his  new  life. 
If  he  made  his  labors  profitable  to  others,  it  is 
quite  natural  that  he  soon  came  to  learn  that 
they  could  be  made  profitable  to  himself.  He 
therefore  left  the  city  for  a  season  and  labored 
at  Willow  Springs  in  Nevada.  Here  he  ac- 
cumulated money  sufficient  to  buy  himself  a 
yoke  of  cattle.  He  was  now  a  capitalist  with 
property  of  his  own  and  dreamed  dreams  of 
future   progress.      He    saw    openings    before 


54  JAMES  JENSEN 

him,  new  opportunities  to  make  money,  and 
to  get  on  in  the  world.  However,  his  devotion 
to  his  reHgion  and  the  needs  of  the  Church 
were  always  uppermost  in  his  mind.  He  was 
therefore  ready  for  any  call  that  might  come 
to  him,  and  in  the  spring  of  1862  the  new  call 
came.  Men  and  teams  were  badly  needed  to 
bring  the  emigrants  from  the  frontier  on  the 
Missouri  River  to  the  Valleys  of  the  Mountains. 
He  had  a  good  team  and  it  was  needed  and 
placed  at  the  service  of  the  Bishop,  who  sent 
it  that  year  to  bring  out  the  emigrants.  The 
boy  was  again  compelled  to  take  up  his  work 
single-handed.  However,  he  was  not  dis- 
heartened and  did  not  complain.  He  set  his 
hand  to  work  at  whatever  could  be  found  to 
do  and  worked  that  season  for  Brigham 
Young.  When  the  company  returned,  one  of 
his  oxen  was  missing.  As  soan  as  possible  he 
purchased  a  new  animal  to  complete  his  team. 
Men  were  not  allowed  in  those  days  to  neg- 
lect the  general  requirements  of  the  Church. 
In  the  summer  of  '63  its  needs  were  as  great 
as  in  preceding  years.  "This  time,"  he  says, 
"I  was  not  only  required  to  furnish  a  team  but 
was  asked  to  go  myself.    I  had  assigned  to  me 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH.  55 

a  team  of  four  yoke  of  oxen,  three  yoke  con- 
sisted of  steers  that  gave  me  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  in  the  beginning.  I  remember  that 
when  we  left  the  city  we  made  our  way  up 
Parley's  Canyon.  When  we  reached  a  place 
just  beyond  Hardy's  Ranch,  my  team  became 
unmanageable  and  finally  tipped  over  my  wag- 
on and  scattered  the  provisions  about  on  the 
ground.  John  Wooley  of  Centerville  was  the 
captain  of  our  company,  and  I  remember  how 
greatly  he  was  annoyed  at  what  he  evidently 
thought  was  my  stupidity  in  permitting  my 
team  to  get  the  best  of  me.  The  team  was 
large  and  though  I  had  had  much  experience 
in  breaking  steers,  I  no  doubt  appeared  some- 
what awkward  to  the  captain.  On  reaching 
the  Missouri  River  we  were  obliged  to  remain 
six  weeks  waiting  for  a  company  of  emigrants. 
As  soon  as  they  arrived  we  began  our  journey 
to  the  Valleys/' 

"Of  course  there  were  many  novel  and  cu- 
rious experiences  in  such  emigrant  trains.  The 
teamsters  were  already  initiated  into  frontier 
life  and  they  were  familiar  with  their  ani- 
mals and  the  methods  of  their  employment. 
The  emigrants  were  bewildered.    The  new  life 


56  JAMES  JENSEN 

was  all  strange  to  them,  and  it  was  not  easy 
to  blend  their  peculiar  thoughts  and  feelings 
with  those  of  the  teamsters.  Often  the  team- 
sters were  rough  and  uncouth  and  reckless  in 
their  manners.  Sometimes  there  were  among 
the  Saints  men  and  women  of  very  peculiar 
dispositions;  some  were  contrary,  others  were 
stubborn  or  obstinate,  and  they  often  gave  the 
captain  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  I  remember,'' 
he  continued,  *'when  we  got  in  the  Black  Hills 
that  one  of  the  women  became  very  arbitrary 
and  the  teamster  with  whom  slie  was  riding 
found  it  very  difficult  to  get  along  with  her.  He 
sometimes  wished  her  to  walk  uphill;  and  on 
one  occasion,  when  the  road  ahead  of  him  was 
steep  and  heavy,  he  asked  her  to  get  out  of  the 
wagon  and  walk  up  the  hill.  Instead  of  going 
along  with  the  team,  she  turned  and  went  back 
down  the  hill.  It  was  believed  that  she  would 
come  along  with  the  others,  but  the  next  morn- 
ing she  was  missing.  Immediately,  four  of 
the  guards  were  sent  back  in  search  of  her. 
Among  them  I  remember  one,  Nathan  Davis. 
A  considerable  time  was  given  to  search  for 
her,  when  at  last  she  was  found  and  put  in 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH.  57 

charge  of  another  train  that  was  coming  on  to 
the  Valleys.'^ 

When  relating  these  circumstances,  the  Bish- 
op was  reminded  of  another  mstance  which 
turns  some  Hght  upon  the  difficulties  that  the 
captains  and  emigrants  often  encountered  in 
deaHng  with  some  very  peculiar  and  often  ug- 
ly dispositions  of  some  testy  emigrants.  *'With 
one  of  the  trains,"  he  said,  "there  was  a  wom- 
an, the  wife  of  a  man  whose  name  was  Grund- 
vigson,  who  gave  her  husband  unceasing  trou- 
ble along  the  way.  Finally  in  a  fit  of  anger 
she  declared  that  she  would  rather  live  with 
the  Indians  than  to  continue  with  him.  Not 
long  after  this  outburst  of  anger,  a  number  of 
Indians  came  along,  seized  the  woman,  and  be- 
fore they  could  be  restrained,  galloped  off  with 
their  captive.  Every  effort  was  made  to  learn 
of  her  whereabouts,  and  I  remember  that  Brig- 
ham  Young  did  all  that  he  could  to  recover  her. 
It  was  stated  that  after  some  years  of  cap- 
tivity, she  finally  married  an  Indian  chief  but 
she  was  never  returned  to  her  husband  who 
subsequently  married  again.'' 

It  was  during  this  return  trip  from  the  Mis- 
souri River  that  Joseph  F.  Smith  returned  from 


58  JAMES  JENSEN 

his  mission  to  Europe.  He  had  already  served 
as  a  missionary  on  the  Sandwich  Islands.  The 
returning  elder  was  appointed  chaplain  of  the 
company  and  at  once  began  to  interest  himself 
in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  teamsters,  ^ome 
of  whom  were  in  a  large  measure  the  victims 
of  a  reckless  spirit,  characteristic  of  frontier 
life.  These  young  men,  faithful  in  the  labor- 
ious duties  which  they  had  to  perform,  were  of- 
ten indifferent  in  their  religious  duties.  There 
was  a  disposition  among  them  to  get  ail  the 
pleasure  they  could  out  of  every  employment. 
They  indulged  in  excessive  jest  and  saw  the 
ridiculous  side  of  things  where  ridicule  could 
be  found.  Their  chaplain  finally  determined  to 
ask  the  teamsters  to  take  turn  in  praying.  "I 
was  the  first  one  called,''  said  James  Jensen, 
"and  made  the  effort  according  to  my  best  un- 
derstanding. After  I  had  finished,  and  was 
later  alone  with  the  teamsters,  they  jestingly 
wanted  to  know  in  what  language  I  had  been 
praying.  I  suppose  I  stammered,  and  perhaps 
felt  in  my  embarrassment  the  jesting  I  was 
likely  to  meet.  However,  the  chaplain  did  not 
succeed  after  that,  as  I  remember,  in  getting 
another  teamster  to  pray;  the  prayers  were 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH.  59 

all  conducted  by  himself  and  the  emigrants/' 
On  his  return  to  the  city  he  took  up  again 
his  religious  duties  and  accepted  such  employ- 
ment as  those  times  opened  to  him.  In  the 
10th  ward  he  served  as  a  deacon,  kept  the 
house  clean  and  in  order,  and  performed  that 
old-time  duty  of  the  deacon  to  snuff  the  candles 
which  soon  became  dim  if  not  thus  attended 
to.  The  candles  that  mothers  used  to  make  in 
those  days  were  comparatively  useless  without 
the  accompanying  snuffer. 

After  sundry  occupations  the  young  man 
found  employment  with  Cooley  of  Grantsville, 
whose  business  it  was,  in  those  days,  to  freight 
provisions  from  Camp  Floyd,  south  of  Salt 
Lake  City,  to  Fort  Hall,  some  distance  north 
of  Pocatello  in  Idaho.  Idaho,  then,  had  not 
been  settled. 

It  was  not  long  before  James  again  put  him- 
self in  a  more  independent  condition.  He  pur- 
chased two  yoke  of  cattle  and  began  to  haul 
wood  from  the  canyons.  In  the  winter  of  1864 
he  went  every  morning  to  Parley's  Canyon, 
where  he  slid  down  over  the  snow,  wood  to  be 
hauled  out  the  following  spring.  Out  of  this 
employment  and  the  wood  sold  he  obtained 


60  JAMES  JENSEN 

about  $1,500.  He  began  to  feel  now  that  he 
was  a  rich  man,  so  he  concluded  to  marry,  and 
bought  him  a  lot  and  secured  a  fine  team  of 
horses.  On  the  21st  of  September,  1865  he 
was  united  in  wedlock  to  M.  J.  Petrina  Sor- 
enson.  Her  father,  who  was  a  pilot,  had  been 
drowned  off  the  coast  of  Denmark  at  the 
mouth  of  a  river,  and  her  mother  subsequently 
married  a  man  by  the  name  of  Jensen. 

For  the  young  man  life  now  took  on  addi- 
tional responsibility.  He  began  at  once  the 
construction  of  a  home,  an  adobe  house  con- 
sisting of  one  room  and  a  pantry.  The  adobes 
for  the  house  he  made  on  the  lot  where  it 
stood.  His  wife  was  equally  industrious ;  from 
the  wool  of  the  sheep  she  made  clothing,  wove 
carpets,  and  from  magazines  she  cut  pictures 
and  had  them  framed  for  the  decoration  of  her 
home. 

It  was  not  long  before  he  was  again  sought 
by  President  Young  for  his  services  on  the 
President's  farm.  Here  he  continued  to  labor 
for  two  years.  One  day  while  he  was  sowing 
wheat  broadcast  over  the  land  he  was  occu- 
pied in  tilling,  a  neighbor  shouted  over  the 
fence  the  information  that  he  had  been  called 


M.  J.  Petrina  Jensen. 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH.  61 

on  a  mission.  It  was  in  early  times  that  men 
were  called  without  a  moment's  notice.  They 
were  minute  men  in  the  service  of  their  Master. 
The  young  man  at  this  season  of  the  year, 
1867,  changed  his  busy  life  in  the  wild  and 
unredeemed  West  for  a  new  experience  in  the 
missionary  field.  At  that  time  a  prompt  re- 
sponse and  an  obedient  heart  were  the  fore- 
most qualifications  in  the  ministry  of  the 
Church.  He  knew  something  of  the  missionary 
life  of  the  elders  who  had  brought  the  Gos- 
pel to  his  father's  home.  It  was  an  honor, 
therefore,  to  receive  a  call  to  carry  a  message 
that  meant  so  much  to  those  who  honestly  re- 
ceived it  and  faithfully  pursued  its  require- 
ments. He  did  not  stop  for  the  harvest;  he 
let  out  his  crops  to  be  harvested  by  others ;  sold 
his  horses;  and  took  up  the  occupation  to 
which  he  had  been  called  in  the  same  faithful 
manner  that  he  pursued  every  other  vocation 
of  life. 


62  JAMES  JENSEN 


CHAPTER  IV. 

\ 

ON    A    MISSION 

Called  from  the  field,  Elder  Jensen  set  out 
upon  his  mission,  which  was  to  last  something 
like  thirty-nine  months,  on  the  11th  of  May, 
1867.  The  good  wife  left  behind  had  moved 
to  her  parents  where  she  lived  during  her  hus- 
band's absence. 

''Before  I  left  for  my  mission,  my  young 
wife,  who  was  only  twenty  years  old  then,  de- 
voted herself  industriously  to  my  welfare  and 
comfort.  She  was  very  economical  and  made 
the  best  of  whatever  came  to  her  care.  From 
the  wool  that  came  from  the  sheep's  back  she 
carded  rolls,  spun  yarn,  and  wove  cloth.  She 
made  my  vest  and  pants  and  a  tailor  made  my 
coat.  Of  that  suit  I  was  proud.  I  thought  it 
becoming  to  me  and  I  prized  it  highly  because 
it  was  the  workmanship  of  loving  and  devoted 
hands." 

In  those  days,  the  elders  generally  availed 
themselves  of  the  opportunities  to  join  some 


ON  A  MISSION.  b6 

of  the  overland  trains  which  were  engaged  in 
freighting  from  the  terminus  of  the  railroad  to 
Salt  Lake  City.  On  this  occasion  John  Sharp 
Jr.  was  the  captain  of  the  train  with  which  the 
elders  traveled.  In  the  company  with  Elder 
Jensen  were  Karl  G.  Maeser,  on  his  way  to 
Switzerland ;  James  Johnson,  Samuel  Peterson, 
George  K.  Reese,  and  C.  F.  Fjelsted  bound  for 
Scandinavia.  Among  those  for  England  were 
Willard  Richards,  Levi  Richards  and  Dr.  Jo- 
seph Richards.  These  trains  often  freighted 
grain  to  stations  along  the  way  where  it  could 
be  used  in  the  service  of  the  overland  mail. 

The  spring  of  1867  had  perhaps  the  great- 
est rainfall  ever  known  up  to  that  time.  The 
streams  were  greatly  swollen  and  great  diffi- 
culty was  experienced  in  getting  the  large  ox- 
team  trains  over.  It  not  unfrequently  hap- 
pened that  as  many  as  twelve  yoke  of  oxen 
were  detailed  to  the  conveyance  of  a  single 
wagon  across  rivers,  etc.  When  the  company 
reached  Yellow  Creek  they  were  met  by  Cap- 
tain Hooper  who  was  on  his  way  home  from 
Washington  where  he  had  been  serving  as  a 
delegate  in  Congress. 

The  travel  westward  by  team  in  the  early 


64  JAMES  JENSEN 

60's  was  made  difficult  and  dangerous  by  the 
frequent  hostilities  of  the  red  men.  Some 
of  the  stations  along  the  route  had  to  be 
guarded  by  militia,  and  precautions  were 
taken  by  the  government  to  protect  the  lives  of 
the  travelers.  So  bad  that  year  were  the  In- 
dians that  when  the  company  reached  Fort 
Bridger  the  question  of  continuing  the  journey 
was  seriously  discussed.  Some  of  the  team- 
sters wanted  to  return,  as  they  were  unwilling 
to  hazard  their  lives  and  property  among  the 
marauding  Indians.  Fort  Bridger  was  one 
hundred  and  twenty-three  miles  from  Great 
Salt  Lake  City ;  and  Green,  River  one  hundred 
and  eighty  miles.  The  distance  covered  was 
considerable,  and  loss  would  accrue  if  the  com- 
pany did  not  continue  the  journey.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  missionaries  was  thrown  into 
the  balance  in  favor  of  an  onward  march,  and 
the  company  therefore  plunged  into  the  midst 
of  a  country  which  was  largely  at  the  mercy 
of  plundering  bands  of  Indians.  '7^"^  7th," 
said  Elder  Jensen,  ''was,  up  to  that  time,  the 
saddest  day  of  my  life.  While  we  were  en- 
camped, the  Indians  sallied  out  from  their 
places  of  concealment  and  made  an  attack  up- 


ON  A  MISSION.  65 

on  us.  We  all  rushed  to  the  rescue  of  our 
stock,  and  were  on  the  point  of  abandoning 
the  train  altogether,  when  the  presence  of 
mind  of  Elder  Karl  G.  Maeser  saved  the  sit- 
uation. He  called  back  a  number,  sufficient 
to  protect  the  wagons,  while  the  balance  con- 
tinued their  pursuit.  One  of  the  men.  Chris- 
tian Jensen  by  name,  was  shot  through  the 
arm  which  the  arrow  pinned  to  his  body.  A 
second  arrow  pierced  his  body  in  front  of  the 
other  arm  and  a  bullet  from  the  gun  of  one  of 
the  Indians  killed  him.  The  red  men  jumped 
from  their  horses  to  secure  the  scalp,  when  a 
shot  from  a  negro,  one  of  the  company,  struck 
close  to  the  Indians  who  were  frightened  away 
without  consummating  their  fiendish  practice. 

"We  buried  the  man,  and  over  his  grave  we 
built  a  fire  to  mislead  the  Indians,  who,  we 
believed  would  return,  exhume  the  body,  and 
remove  the  scalp. 

"The  death  of  my  traveling  companion,  who 
bore  the  same  name  as  myself,  gave  rise  to  a 
most  painful  report  which  reached  my  wife,  to 
the  effect  that  I  had  been  killed.  Heber  C. 
Kimball  Jr.,  who  dispatched  the  message  was 
not  aware  that  there  was  any  other  Jensen  in 


66  JAMES  JENSEN 

the  train.  Jensen  had  come  from  Brigham  City 
and  joined  our  company  at  Echo  Canyon.  Hr 
was  on  his  way  to  secure  a  thresher.  When 
we  reached  Sulphur  Springs  after  this  painful 
episode,  we  remained  for  a  short  time  waiting 
for  a  mule  team  company  that  was  to  accom- 
pany us  farther  on  our  journey. 

"On  the  27th  of  June  we  arrived  at  Poll 
Creek  where  we  came  upon  the  construction 
crew  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  On  the 
29th  of  the  same  month  we  saw  the  first  train 
of  that  road  loaded  with  timber.  On  the  30th 
we  reached  Julesburg,  the  terminus  of  the 
railroad  at  that  time.  Here  we  separated  from 
the  company  of  freighters  and  I  sent  my  re- 
volver and  bedclothes  home.  We  took  train 
at  Julesburg  and  traveled  a  distance  of  three 
hundred  and  ninety  miles  to  Omaha,  a  dis- 
tance which  we  covered  in  twenty-one  hours, 
traveling  at  an  average  speed  of  eighteen  and 
four-sevenths  miles  per  hour.  We  continued 
our  journey  by  railroad  from  Omaha  to 
Chicago  at  a  cost  of  seventeen  dollars,  and 
from  Chicago  to  New  York  for  twenty  dol- 
lars.    In  New  York  preparations  were  imme- 


ON  A  MISSION.  67 

diately   begun    preparatory    to   transportation 
across  the  Atlantic." 

At  that  time  the  emigration  companies  were 
large  and  the  elders  going  and  coming  from 
their  missions  met  friends  along  the  way  and 
renewed  their  old  asociations.  At  New  York 
the  outgoing  elders  met  Orson  Pratt,  Brig- 
ham  Young  Jr.,  and  John  W.  Young  who  were 
on  their  way  home  from  England.  After 
Elder  Jensen  completed  his  preparations,  he 
set  sail  from  New  York  on  the  13th  of  July  on 
the  boat  Manhattan  for  Liverpool.  At  that 
time  he  was  suffering  from  some  diseased  con- 
dition of  his  eyes  which  compelled  him  to  re- 
main in  a  dark  room. 

On  the  26th  of  July,  the  elders  reached  Liv- 
erpool where  they  were  met  by  Franklin  D. 
Richards,  C.  W.  Penrose,  and  William  Pres- 
ton who  came  out  to  meet  the  ship  as  it  made 
its  way  up  the  Mersey.  On  the  27th,  the  day 
following,  the  Scandinavian  elders  took  train 
for  Hull.  From  Hull  they  sailed  to  Ham- 
burg and  by  rail  went  to  Kiel,  thence  over  the 
Baltic  to  Corsor,  where  they  took  the  train 
for  Copenhagen. 

At  that  time  President  Widerborg  was  in 


68  JAMES  JENSEN 

charge  of  the  Scandinavian  mission.  Elder 
Jensen,  upon  his  return  to  the  land  of  his  na- 
tivity, was  naturally  anxious  to  meet,  as  early 
as  possible,  his  relatives  and  friends  from 
whom  he  parted  in  1857,  just  ten  years  be- 
fore. In  his  native  town  of  Haugerup  he  en- 
joyed himself  for  a  short  time  in  the  society 
of  his  old-time  friends  and  of  his  relatives. 
He  had  left  Denmark  in  1857,  a  boy  of  six- 
teen, unfamiliar  with  the  ways  of  the  world,  in- 
experienced, and  under  the  direction  of  his  par- 
ents. Ten  years  later  he  returned  a  man,  an 
elder  in  the  Mormon  Church,  who  could  speak 
with  interest  of  his  experiences.  His  ideas  had 
been  enlarged  and  his  capabilities  increased,  so 
that  he  was  entrusted  with  the  responsibility  of 
carrying  the  Gospel  message  to  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  He  was  naturally  somewhat  an  ob- 
ject of  interest  and  some  curiosity.  His  position 
was  in  the  mind  of  the  world  a  more  dignified 
one  and  his  determination  to  magnify  his  call- 
ing naturally  gave  him  a  sense  of  the  general 
fitness  of  things.  His  missionary  labors  began 
on  the  mainland,  called  Jutland.  His  mission- 
ary experiences  during  the  latter  part  of  1867 
were  confined  largely  to  Fredericia  and  Veile. 


ON  A  MISSION.  69 

One  of  his  earliest  experiences  was  to  secure 
a  schoolhouse  through  the  assistance  of  the 
teacher,  who  subsequently  regretted  the  rash- 
ness of  this  act  in  consenting  to  permit  the 
Mormons  to  use  it.  In  order  to  be  more  at 
peace  with  his  own  conscience  and  secure  him- 
self against  public  criticism,  he  demanded  that 
the  elders  preach  only  from  the  Bible.  To 
this  they  consented.  At  the  close  of  the  meet- 
ing the  teacher,  who  had  been  greatly  sur- 
prised, arose  and  bore  witness  to  the  Scriptural 
truths  which  they  had  taught. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  Scandinavian  mis- 
sion, the  Gospel  took  a  ready  hold  upon  the 
hearts  of  many  people.  It  had  at  the  same  time 
awakened  bitterness  in  the  hearts  of  others. 
The  message  which  the  elders  brought  occa- 
sionally caused  some  dissension  in  families. 
Speaking  of  one  circumstance  he  said :  "It  had 
been  some  time  since  I  had  had  an  opportunity 
to  write  my  wife  at  home.  We  were  invited 
to  the  house  of  a  man  who  had  joined  the 
Church,  but  whose  wife  was  so  bitter  that  she 
would  neither  permit  me  to  write  a  letter,  or 
to  have  any  food  in  her  house.  I  remember 
that  I  was  so  hungry  that  I  sought  the  first 


70  JAMES  JENSEN 

opportunity  to  satisfy  myself  by  eating  raw 
potatoes." 

"We  had  not  been  long  active  in  our  mission- 
ary efforts  before  the  priests  began  to  insist 
that  we  be  not  permitted  to  occupy  the  school- 
houses.  We  therefore  made  such  arrange- 
ments as  we  could  to  hold  meetings  in  public 
houses  and  in  such  halls  as  we  could  rent.  I 
was  assigned  t6  labor  in  a  conference  under 
the  direction  of  a  president,  an  elder  from 
Zion,  whose  judgment  I  could  not  always  re- 
spect. I  remember  that  on  one  occasion  a  man 
who  had  been  dropped  from  the  Church  came 
to  my  conference  president  and  desired  to  be 
taken  back.  His  statements  were  very  unsat- 
isfactory, but  the  president  expressed  his  satis- 
faction and  was  ready  to  receive  the  man  back 
into  the  Church.'  The  confession  awakened 
within  me  a  conviction  that  it  was  untruthful, 
and  I  therefore  protested  against  the  wiling- 
ness  of  the  president  to  receive  a  man  who  had 
lied  to  reach  his  purposes.  The  man,  however, 
returned  later  on,  corrected  what  he  had  said 
before  and  placed  himself  in  a  position  to  be  re- 
ceived. It  was  not  long,  however,  before  it 
became  necessary  for  the  president  of  the  con- 


ON  A  MISSION.  71 

ference  to  be  sent  home.  The  elder  returned 
to  Zion  because  of  the  sinful  conduct  which 
made  him  unworthy  to  be  a  missionary  of  the 
Church.  Sometime  after  his  return,  he  joined 
the  Godbeites  and  was  afterwards  an  avowed 
enemy  of  the  Church.  His  son-in-law  gave  me 
the  following  sad  ending  of  my  conference 
president's  career.  'During  the  days  of  the 
crusade  against  polygamy/  he  related  to  me, 
'my  father-in-law  became  a  member  of  a  trial 
jury  in  the  city  of  Ogden.  The  case  on  which 
he  sat  was  one  for  unlawful  cohabitation. 
Eleven  of  the  jurors  were  in  favor  of  acquittal 
while  he  insisted  on  a  conviction,  and  malic- 
iously declared  that  he  would  rot  before  he 
would  vote  in  favor  of  acquittal.  A  short  time 
thereafter,  while  driving  a  pair  of  colts,  they 
ran  away  with  him  and  from  the  accident  he 
received  an  injury  from  which  he  never  re- 
covered. His  bruised  body  began  to  mortify 
and  from  it  the  stench  became  so  bad  that  the 
wife  could  not  endure  to  remain  in  the  room 
where  her  husband  lay.  In  time  he  died,  lit- 
erally rotten,  in  fulfillment  of  the  alternative 
suffering  he  preferred  to  the  release  of  one  on 
trial  for  unlawful  cohabitation/    The  man  who 


n  JAMES  JENSEN 

is  the  author  of  the  foregoing  statement  is  now 
living  and  a  president  of  one  of  the  stakes  of 
Zion." 

Much  of  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1867  was 
passed  in  the  conference  of  which  Veile  was 
the  headquarters.  From  this  place  Elder  Jen- 
sen was  enabled  to  reach  his  native  town  Hag- 
uerup.  Here  the  opportunity  was  given  to 
preach  to  old  neighbors  and  friends.  The 
schoolhouse  had  been  denied  him,  but  one  of 
the  leading  farmers  of  the  place  granted  Elder 
Jensen  the  privilege  of  preaching  in  his  own 
home. 

The  elders  were  not  averse  to  any  kind  of 
work  whenever  the  occasion  required.  If  they 
could  not  always  make  themselves  agreeable 
and  helpful  by  their  words  of  encouragement 
and  instruction,  they  could  demonstrate  their 
ability  to  labor  skillfully  and  hard.  There  were 
many  who  had  an  aversion  for  ministers  whose 
lives  they  believed  to  be  idle,  indulgent,  and 
selfish.  Elder  Jensen,  among  other  incidents 
peculiar  to  his  missionary  experiences,  tells  of 
the  manner  by  which  Anders  Jenson  and  his 
family  were  brought  into  the  Church.  "As  we 
approached  the  Jenson  home  the  father  and 


ON  A  MISSION.  73 

sons  were  breaking  flax.  One  of  the  boys  who 
saw  us  nearing  them,  remarked  to  the  others 
that  he  proposed  to  have  some  fun  with  the 
Mormon  missionaries.  We  were  immediately 
asked  to  take  hold  and  help  in  the  work.*  We 
responded  cheerfully.  It  was  not  a  new  kind 
of  work  to  me,  and  I  was  able  to  hold  my 
own  with  the  boys.  Later,  I  assisted  in  plow- 
ing and  showed  myself  at  home  on  the  farm. 
It  established  a  familiarity  and  friendly  rela- 
tion between  us  and  the  family.  What  we  did 
so  well  and  cheerfully  had  a  great  influence 
over  them,  and  later  on  I  baptized  the  father, 
mother,  three  sons  and  two  daughters.  Their 
fun  was,  I  have  no  doubt,  turned  into  friendly 
relations  and  earnest  inquiry  by  our  willing- 
ness and  ability  to  work.  They  saw  that  work 
which  they  exalted  by  their  example  was  really 
part  of  the  Mormon  creed." 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1868  his  labors 
extended  along  the  mainland,  and  while  in  the 
city  of  Rolling  he  and  other  elders  were  at- 
tacked by  a  mob.  One  of  the  mobbers,  a  husky 
foundryman,  seized  Elder  Jensen  by  the  throat 
and  in  a  spirit  of  rage  began  to  choke  him.  As 
soon  as  Elder  Jensen  extricated  himself,  which 


74  JAMES  JENSEN 

his  superior  strength  soon  enabled  him  to  do, 
he  rebuked  the  man  and  wanted  to  know  what 
offense  he  had  ever  given  to  entitle  him  to  such 
treatment.  In  the  midst  of  the  melee  and  con- 
fusion, the  train,  which  he  was  about  to  board, 
arrived.  He  slipped  in  at  the  side  door  and  oc- 
cupied the  only  seat  not  taken.  The  crowd, 
however,  followed  him  to  Fredericia  where  he 
reached  a  faithful  sister  who  concealed  him 
successfully  against  the  mob  in  pursuit. 

At  Horsens  he  continued  his  labors  amidst 
some  opposition.  While  holding  a  meeting  in 
the  place,  and  while  in  the  midst  of  worship, 
a  rock  was  thrown  through  one  of  the  win- 
dows. Here  they  were  also  visited  by  crowds 
of  vicious  and  reckless  men,  bent  upon  the 
confusion  and  discomfiture  of  the  elders  and 
Saints  in  their  religious  worship.  On  one  oc- 
casion the  rabble  came  to  the  meeting  and  be- 
gan their  disturbance  by  approaching  the  wom- 
en, whom  they  sought  to  hug  and  kiss  in  a  vio- 
lent manner.  As  soon  as  possible  Elder  Jensen 
had  the  lights  blown  out  and  began  at  once, 
after  reaching  the  midst  of  the  disturbers,  to 
clear  them  out  of  the  hall  by  the  use  of  a  cane, 
which  he  applied  in  such  a  manner  as  to  create 


ON  A  MISSION.  75 

consternation  and  retreat.    Here  the  elders  had 
the  opportunity  later  to  baptize  several  persons. 
On  the  5th  of  March,  Elder  Jensen  moved  on 
to  Fredericia.  Among  his  experiences  there  he 
related  that  in  one  of  the  meetings  two  soldiers 
were  present  who  refused  to  remove  their  caps. 
"I  insisted,"  he  said,  "that  they  must  either 
leave  or  take  off  their  caps.    They  refused  to 
pay  any  attention  to  my  demands.    I  thereupon 
seized  them  one  at  a  time,  and  threw  them 
into  the  street.     An  officer  passing  at  that  mo- 
ment saw  the  man  fall,  and  at  once  began  an 
inquiry  to  find  out  what  it  all  meant.     After 
receiving  information  the  officer  left  and  short- 
ly after  he  sent  the  two  men  back  who  made  a 
humble  apology  for  their  disgraceful  conduct 
in  our  place  of  worship."    It  is  not  difficult  for 
those  who  are  acquainted  with  Bishop  Jensen 
to  imagine  that  in  the  prime  of  his  early  man- 
hood he  could  perform  just  such  a  task  as  he 
describes  above  with  celerity  and  effectiveness. 
The  man,  who  was  tumbled  somehow  or  other 
far  out  into  the  street,  had  no  doubt  some  vig- 
orous assistance  from  the  elder  who  was  de- 
termined to  bring  into  play  his  physical  poweri 


76  JAMES  JENSEN 

to  maintain  the  respect  to  which  he  felt  him- 
self entitled. 

Goings  up  to  Copenhagen  was  in  those  days 
a  delightful  opportunity  to  meet  the  elders  of 
the  mission  and  enjoy  the  companionship  of 
old-time  friends.  There  they  went  to  their 
priesthood  meetings  and  reported  the  condition 
of  the  conference  over  which  they  presided. 
While  there,  Elder  Jensen  was  asked  to  preside 
over  the  conference  from  which  the  unworthy 
elder  mentioned  above  had  been  dismissed.  The 
conference,  however,  was  in  an  unfortunate 
condition.  Its  financial  standing  was  bad,  and 
the  moral  tone  also  affected  by  an  elder  who 
had  not  only  brought  disgrace  upon  himself, 
but  also  upon  the  conference  over  which  he 
presided.  Elder  Jensen  modestly  expressed 
a  preference  to  be  released  from  the  undertak- 
ing. It  was  finally  decided' to  unite  the  Fred- 
ericia  and  Aarhus  conferences  under  the  pres- 
idency of  Lauretz  Larsen,  whose  assistant 
Elder  Jensen  became.  These  missionary  as- 
sociates of  those  early  days  became  devoted 
friends  throughout  all  the  subsequent  years  of 
their  lives.    Larsen  was  at  one  time  counselor 


ON  A  MISSION.  11 

to  the  Bishop  of  Spring  City,  which  for  many 
years  had  been  his  home. 

The  late  60's  witnessed  remarkable  changes 
throughout  the  world  in  the  methods  of  trans- 
portation. The  railroads  at  that  time  were  un- 
der construction  in  different  parts  of  Den- 
mark, and  the  old  methods  of  traveling  were 
substituted  by  more  commodious  and  expe- 
ditious means  which  the  application  of  steam 
had  brought  about.  Elder  Jensen  was  busily 
occupied  in  his  conference  aiding  the  Saints  in 
their  emigration  to  Zion.  "Our  company,  which 
left  Liverpool  on  the  13th  of  June,  1868,  was 
the  last  to  embark  in  the  old  sailing  ships  that 
had  occupied  so  much  time  upon  the  ocean.'' 

On  the  mainland  where  he  was  laboring  the 
railroad  between  Fredericia  and  Aarhus  was 
completed.  The  new  road  was  an  object  of 
great  interest  and  often  great  excitement  to  the 
farmers.  When  the  first  train  was  run.  Elder 
Jensen  joined  in  the  general  celebration  and 
became  one  of  its  first  passengers.  "A  curi- 
ous circumstance  transpired,"  he  wrote,  "as  we 
were  leaving  the  station.  A  team  of  horses 
became  frightened  and  ran  away.  The  run- 
away created  so  much  excitement  among  the 


y^  JAMES  JENSEN 

passengers  that  one  of  the  farmers  aboard  ran 
his  head  through  a  glass  window  in  his  unre- 
strained anxiety  to  see  what  was  going  on/' 

It  was  along  the  last  of  1868  that  a  change 
was  made  in  the  mission  presidents,  President 
Jesse  N.  Smith  having  arrived  on  a  call  to 
succeed  Widerborg  in  the  presidency  of  the 
Scandinavian  mission.  It  was  President 
Smith's  second  mission  to  that  country  and  he 
was  therefore  familiar  with  the  language. 
Elder  Jensen  was  one  of  the  elders  to  carry 
the  Gospel  into  a  district  beyond  Lake 
Skanderborg.  The  report  of  the  presence  of 
the  Mormon  missionaries  in  Denmark  had 
reached  the  people  of  that  district  and  they 
naturally  turned  out* in  large  numbers  to  lis- 
ten to  what  these  elders  had  to  say.  They  were 
not,  however,  without  opposition.  Noisy 
crowds  gathered  and  endeavored  to  disturb 
their  meetings,  and  Elder  Jensen  sometimes 
found  it  necessary  to  give  boisterous  men  a 
little  shaking  up,  which  he  was  always  qual- 
ified to  do,  before  they  would  yield  to  him  a 
proper  respect. 

A  new  importance  was  attached  to  the  mis- 
sionary experiences  of  Elder  Jensen  early  in 


ON  A  MISSION.  79 

the  year  1869,  when  he  was  called  to  the  pres- 
idency of  the  Aalborg  conference.  He  no 
doubt,  however,  felt  some  disappointment  be- 
cause of  his  expectations  that  he  would  be  re- 
leased as  other  elders  were  at  the  end  of  two 
years,  nor  was  his  own  disappointment  less 
than  that  at  home  where  a  loving  and  anxious 
wife  awaited  his  return.  The  appointment 
was  received  with  some  feelings  of  misgiving. 
The  conference  was  not  in  the  best  condition 
and  its  finances  needed  that  experience  and 
attention  which  he  feared  he  could  not  give. 
President  Smith  assured  this  young  elder  that 
he  felt  inspired  to  put  upon  him  that  responsi- 
bihty  and  that  he  had  every  confidence  that 
Elder  Jensen  would  succeed  in  his  mission. 
Elder  Jensen  went  at  his  new  task,  and  in  due 
time  felt  the  satisfaction  of  getting  the  con- 
ference out  of  debt  and  placing  it  in  a  good 
healthy  condition. 

Elder  Jensen  had  left  behind  him  in  the  Aar- 
hus  conference  many  warm  friends,  men  and 
women  whom  he  had  led  into  the  waters  of 
baptism.  In  his  journal  he  makes  friendly  men- 
tion of  the  Henricksen  family — a  family  of  re- 
finement, intelligence,  and  devotion.     He  had 


80  JAMES  JENSEN 

baptized  the  mother  and  the  children  in  Veile 
where  they  resided.  For  him  they  always. enter- 
tained feelings  of  gratitude  and  devotion ;  and 
when  he  was  about  to  set  sail  for  Zion  at  the 
close  of  his  mission,  the  good  mother  of  that 
family  sent  to  him  a  gold  ring  for  his  wife  in 
token  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  the 
Henricksen  family.  They  subsequently  emi- 
grated to  Utah  and  located  in  Provo,  where  in 
those  early  days  the  sons  were  benefactors  to 
the  community  by  reason  of  their  skill  in  the 
manufacture  of  pottery. 

The  new  responsibility  enlarged  the  scope 
of  his  missionary  experiences.  To  him  were 
entrusted  the  direction  of  other  elders  and  the 
general  movement  of  the  Saints  in  their  emi- 
gration to  Zion.  One  of  his  first  duties  was 
to  conduct  some  ninety  emigrants  to  Copen- 
hagen where  they  joined  other  Saints  on  their 
voyage  to  Liverpool.  He  mentions  in  his 
journal  at  that  time  the  convention  of  farmers 
in  Copenhagen.  It  was  one  of  those  early 
farmers'  institutes  for  which  the  Danish  peo- 
ple have  since  become  world-famous.  Such 
an  early  movement  for  advanced  methods  gives 
us  a  convincing  reason  for  the  foremost  posi- 


ON  A  MISSION.  81 

tion  occupied  by  the  farmers  of  Denmark  in 
the  agricultural  world.  It  is  now  frequently 
stated  that  the  Danish  government  is  a  govern- 
ment of  farmers,  for  the  farmers,  and  by  the 
farmers.  The  agricultural  interests  of  that 
little  kingdom  to-day  predominate  over  all 
others. 

While  in  Copenhagen,  looking  after  emigra- 
tion interests  for  people  from  his  conference,  he 
had  the  pleasure  of  welcoming  his  brother  Ja- 
cob who  had  just  arrived  in  his  native  land  on 
a  mission.  The  meeting  was  most  pleasurable 
and  these  young  elders,  with  one  or  two  of 
their  friends,  enjoyed  such  pleasant  pastimes 
as  Copenhagen  could  afford.  "We  were  treat- 
ed," said  Elder  Jensen,  "by  President  Smith  to 
a  bicycle  ride.  Wheels  were  obtained  for  a 
number  of  us  young  elders,  and  I  remember 
how  I  learned  to  ride  the  high-wheel  bicycle 
of  those  times.  My  brother  was  assigned  to 
my  conference  and  we  left  together  for  our 
field  of  labor." 

Among  those  that  Elder  Jensen  aided  in 
those  days  was  a  young  boy  known  as  Peter 
Olsen,  who  emigrated  about  this  time  from 
Denmark,  and  who,  upon  his  arrival  in  Utah, 


82  JAMES  JENSEN 

made  his  home  with  the  Jensen  family  and 
remained  with  them  until  he  attained  his 
manhood.  A  circumstance  somewhat  novel 
arose  in  the  case  of  the  emigration  of  this 
boy.  ''I  expected  money  from  home  to 
pay  for  his  transportation.  The  money  not 
having  come  when  the  company  left,  I  appealed 
to  a  man  by  the  name  of  Christensen  for  a  loan 
of  seventy-five  Danish  dollars.  The  man  was 
not  in  the  Church.  However,  in  his  heart  he 
felt  that  the  message  was  true  and  he  appar- 
ently struggled  against  it  and  made  the  loan  as 
a  sort  of  a  test.  If  it  were  not  paid  back  it 
would  give  him  some  excuse  for  resisting  the 
feeling  that  was  already  taking  a  strong  hold 
upon  his  mind.  When  I  returned  him  the 
money  and  offered  to  pay  interest  he  replied  by 
handing  me  five  dollars  back." 

The  conference  of  Aalborg  furnished  Elder 
Jensen  numerous  opportunities,  not  only  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  but  to  aid  the  Saints  and 
prepare  them  for  their  new  home  in  a  distant 
land,  where  they  would  hear  a  strange  tongue. 
"I  organized,''  he  wrote  in  his  journal,  "a  night 
school  for  instruction  in  English.  One  of  the 
rules  of  the  school  was  that  not  a  word  in  Da- 


ON  A  MISSION.  83 

nish  was  to  be  spoken.  The  Saints,  of  course, 
appreciated  the  value  of  the  new  language 
which  some  day  they  must  use.  They  were 
diligent  and  I  was  happily  surprised  at  the 
progress  they  made.  Their  knowledge  of  Eng- 
lish they  found  most  useful  when  they  reached 
the  Valleys  of  the  Mountains." 

"I  remember,"  he  continued,  "among  the  ex- 
periences of  those  days,  a  visit  I  paid  to  a  giant 
and  a  dwarf,  who  were  on  exhibition.  The 
name  of  the  giant  was  Andrew  Hanson.  He 
had  seen  service  in  the  Civil  war  of  America. 
He  was  forty-two  years  of  age,  was  seven  feet 
seven  and  a  half  inches  high,  and  weighed 
four  hundred  and  seventy-four  pounds.  The 
dwarf  was  Admiral  Picolomine,  age  thirty- 
eight,  and  was  thirty  inches  high.  As  I  passed 
by  the  giant,  he  lifted  my  hat  from  my  head, 
made  a  crease  in  it,  and  handed  it  back  to  me 
with  the  remark.  This  is  the  way  we  wear  hats 
in  America.'  I  simply  replied  in  English,  'I 
know  it.'  My  knowledge  of  the  English  tongue 
led  to  a  conversation  between  us  and  he  asked 
me  to  return  on  the  following  day.  I  did  so  and 
explained  to  him  the  principles  of  the  Gospel. 
He  was  an  intelligent  and  a  very  humble  man. 


84  JAMES  JENSEN 

He  was  greatly  interested  in  what  I  said,  gave 
evidence  of  his  belief  in  my  message  and  as- 
sured me  that  as  soon  as  he  had  visited  Nor- 
way he  would  return  and  accompany  me  to 
Utah.  His  death  intervened  to  prevent  him 
from  doing  so." 

Denmark  was  in  those  days  a  very  fruitful 
missionary  field.  The  conference  afforded  the 
association  of  devoted  men  and  women  whose 
good  cheer  and  enthusiastic  endeavors  brought 
to  the  elders  many  happy  hours.  The  Saints 
had  an  excellent  choir.  Music  was  always  an 
interesting  feature  of  their  worship  and  they 
frequently  had  social  gatherings  for  pastimes 
of  various  kinds. 

Elder  Jensen  was  constantly  beset  by  the 
temptation  to  visit  the  Aarhus  conference 
whenever  an  opportunity  was  given  him.  His 
early  experiences  there  amidst  the  difficulties 
which  he  found  in  beginning  the.  missionary 
work  constantly  recalled  friendships  that 
bound  him  to  his  early  love.  "On  onr  return 
from  Aarhus  to  Aalborg,  we  were  over- 
taken by  a  landlord.  He  was  in  his  coach  of 
four  horses,  accompanied  by  his  driver  and 
footman.     After  passing    us    by,    he    turned 


ON  A  MISSION.  85 

into  an  inn  where  my  companion  and  I  also 
stopped  for  refreshments.  He  went  to  a  more 
aristocratic  part  of  the  inn,  while  we  had  to  be 
satisfied  with  more  humble  quarters.  While  we 
Were  there,  his  servant  came  to  our  apartment 
and  invited  the  man  with  the  black  beard  whom 
he  had  passed  along  the  road  to  accompany 
him  on  his  journey.  My  companion  was  an  as- 
sistant to  the  mission  president,  and  the  dis- 
crimination was  a  little  embarrassing  to  me. 
However,  we  looked  upon  it  as  one  of  our 
many  opportunities  to  do  good,  and  I  conse- 
quently occupied  a  seat  by  the  landlord  while 
I  explained  my  occupation  and  mission  to  that 
country." 

On  his  return  to  Aalborg,  Elder  Jensen 
found  considerable  excitement  created  among 
those  who  were  hostile  to  the  Saints,  and  who 
looked  upon  the  success  of  the  elders  with  a 
great  deal  of  enmity.  This  opposition  led  to  an 
organized  effort  to  defeat  the  missionary  work 
and  to  frighten  the  people  away  from  the 
meetings.  The  disturbing  element  filled  paper 
bags  with  ashes  and  entered  the  church  for  the 
purpose  of  creating  confusion  and  consterna- 
tion among  the  worshipers.    It  was  the  inten- 


86  JAMES  JENSEN 

tion  to  throw  these  paper  bags  into  the  faces  of 
the  elders  so  as  to  blind  and  suffocate  them  and 
to  make  the  atmosphere  of  the  room  wholly 
unfit  for  a  public  meeting.  These  actions  had 
received  some  encouragement  formerly  by  a 
disposition  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  elders  to 
evade  them.  Elder  Fjelsted  was  so  pacific  in 
his  demeanor,  and  so  unwilling  to  engage  in 
any  contention,  that  he  escaped  from  such  an 
element,  and  sometimes  had  himself  let  down 
from  the  windows  of  the  meeting  house  that 
he  might  evade  those  who  were  seeking  a  quar- 
rel. 

Elder  Jensen,  who  was  now  the  president  of 
this  conference,  possessed  a  somewhat  different 
temperament.  He  believed  it  his  duty  to  main- 
tain his  rights,  and  to  resist  those  who  were 
seeking  trouble.  He  found  in  the  possession 
of  an  old  man  a  large  thorny  cane.  One  of 
his  fellow  missionaries  broke  a  leg  from  one 
of  the  benches  and  the  two  began  thrashing  in 
an  unmerciful  manner  the  men  that  had  come 
with  their  paper  bags  of  ashes  to  create  a  dis- 
turbance. Christophersen  and  Larsen,  both 
powerful  men,  were  door-keepers.  One  of  the 
disturbers  was  about  to  strike  Elder  Jensen  in 


ON  A  MISSION.  87 

the  back  of  the  head  with  a  knife  when  Chris- 
topherson  wrenched  it  from  his  hand.  The 
two  door-keepers  who  had  taken  an  active 
part  in  ejecting  the  mobbers  concluded  that  if 
such  forceful  methods  of  disposing  of  bad 
characters  were  approved,  that  thereafter  noth- 
ing was  to  be  feared  from  that  class  of  ruf- 
fians. "Somehow  or  other/'  he  said,  "after 
beating  them  back  from  the  hall,  we  managed 
to  get  in  front  of  them  as  they  were  leaving 
and  made  our  punishment  as  effectual  as  we 
could.  I  think  our  method  of  treating  these 
intruders  had  a  most  excellent  effect.  They 
did  not  bother  us  after  that.''  James  Jensen 
was  certainly  a  powerful  man  in  those  days, 
and  it  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  that  those 
who  aroused  a  spirit  of  combativeness  in  him 
ever  took  much  pleasure  out  of  any  physical 
opposition  they  had  to  meet. 

"Just  about  this  time  we  had  other  troubles. 
Two  of  the  elders,  who  had  been  in  Denmark 
and  who  upon  reaching  Zion  had  turned 
against  the  Church,  wrote  letters  to  the  Saints 
in  which  they  told  all  sorts  of  falsehoods  about 
the  Mormons.  One  of  these  elders  was  sent 
home  for  adultery.    I  secured  his  letter  from 


88  JAMES  JENSEN 

one  of  the  Saints  into  whose  hands  it  came, 
and  read  it  to  the  meeting.  There  were  pres- 
ent quite  a  number  who  did  not  belong  to  the 
Church.  After  reading  the  letter,  I  wanted  to 
know  from  the  people  what  they  thought  about 
it.  An  old  man  who  was  not  a  member  of  the 
Church  said  he  believed  that  the  writer  of  the 
letter  had  lied,  and  he  proposed  that  the  letter 
be  wrapped  up  in  a  lot  of  paper  to  make  it  as 
heavy  as  possible  and  that  it  be  returned  to  its 
author  without  any  postage  or  comment.  Pos- 
tage was  heavy  in  those  days,  and  the  old  man 
thought  that  the  expenses  of  the  postage  might 
prevent  him,  after  that,  from  writing  such  let- 
ters. These  letters  had  an  effect  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  what  their  authors  intended.  They 
really  did  us  good,  especially  as  many  of  the 
people  had  already  learned  about  the  trans- 
gressions of  these  elders." 

On  the  day  before  Easter,  1870,  there  was  a 
gathering  of  the  Saints  for  social  and  religious 
entertainment.  While  they  were  all  in  the 
midst  of  a  program  which  they  were  carrying 
out,  a  man  entered  the  room  for  the  purpose 
of  creating  a  disturbance.  He  was  warned  to 
desist,  and  when  it  was  evident  that  he  did  not 


ON  A  MISSION.  89 

intend  to  heed  the  warning  he  had  received, 
Elder  Jensen  took  him  by  the  nape  of  the  neck 
and  pitched  him  downstairs.  He  thereupon 
called  the  landlady,  who  was  not  a  member  of 
the  Church,  and  who  had  just  emerged  from 
her  room  to  see  what  the  trouble  was,  all  sorts 
of  vile  names.  However,  he  did  not  disturb 
the  meeting  any  more. 

Just  about  this  time  his  brother  Jacob  who 
was  in  Agersted  took  down  with  smallpox. 
This  created,  of  course,  some  anxiety.  He  had 
his  brother  immediately  brought  to  Aalborg, 
where  by  careful  nursing  he  soon  regained  his 
health.  "As  soon  as  he  was  able,  my  brother 
and  I  accepted  an  invitation  of  the  president  to 
come  to  Copenhagen  on  May  5th  for  the  pur- 
pose of  meeting  President  Albert  Carring- 
ton  of  the  European  mission.  On  my  return 
to  Aalborg,  my  students  in  English  gave  me  a 
cordial  reception  and  presented  me  two  silver 
spoons  with  my  wife's  name  on  one  and  mine 
on  the  other. 

"As  the  time  approached  for  my  release,  I 
took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  visit  my 
old  field  in  Aarhus.  There  I  enjoyed  the  fare- 
well expressions  of  the  Saints  and  returned  to 


90  JAMES  JENSEN 

begin  my  preparation  for  my  return  to  Zion. 
For  some  time  I  was  busily  occupied  in  prepar- 
ing the  Saints  for  their  emigration.  On  the 
29th  of  June,  President  Jesse  N.  Smith  in- 
structed me  to  be  in  Copenhagen  by  July  13th 
with  the  Saints  who  were  to  leave  there  with 
the  next  company.  My  brother  Jacob  was  made 
president  of  the  Aalborg  conference." 

Among  those  who  came  under  the  special 
care  of  Elder  Jensen  were  Nels  Larsen,  who 
emigrated  subsequently  to  Provo,  where  he  be- 
came very  well  and  very  generally  known, 
and  Peter  Andersen,  who  emigrated  to  Salt 
Lake  and  stayed  for  some  time  with  Elder  Jen- 
sen's father.  Young  Andersen,  through  the 
paternal  interest  of  Dr.  Winslow,  adopted  as 
his  first  name  Winslow  and  thereafter  became 
known  as  Winslow  Andersen.  This  young 
man  attended  school  at  the  Brigham  Young 
Academy  in  Provo  and  later  located  in  San 
Francisco  where  he  is  now  the  Editor  in  Chief 
of  the  Pacific  Medical  Journal,  the  President 
of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons, 
and  the  head  of  one  of  the  leading  hospitals. 

Elder  Jensen  left  his  mission,  after  three 
years  of  devoted  eflforts  for  the  well-being  and 


ON  A  MISSION.  91 

happiness  of  his  fellow  men.  To  him  the  friend- 
ships of  that  mission  have  been  among  the 
most  pleasing  memories  of  life.  The  testimo- 
nials that  came  to  him  brought  encouragement 
and  the  assurance  that  he  would  be  long  re- 
membered and  esteemed.  He  reached  Salt 
Lake  City  by  train  on  the  10th  of  August,  1870. 


92  JAMES  JENSEN 

CHAPTER  V. 

RESIDENCE  IN  THE  SECOND  WARD. 

On  his  return  to  Utah,  Elder  Jensen  found 
his  good  wife  located  in  their  own  little  home 
which  she  had  prepared  for  the  comfort  and 
enjoyment  of  her  husband  whom  she  had  aided 
by  every  means  at  her  command.  The  carpet 
on  its  floor  was  of  her  own  making,  and  the 
simple  decorations  which  her  taste  and  industry 
had  provided,  all  went  to  make  the  home  a 
cozy  and  happy  one.  During  his  absence,  the 
wife,  by  her  industry,  had  earned  enough  to 
buy  a  cow  and  a  pig  and  also  the  lumber  with 
which  he  fenced  the  lot.  Of  the  grain  which 
had  to  be  left  unharvested  in  the  field,  she 
saved  something  like  fifty  bushels.  The  young 
husband  was  thus  happily  prepared  to  take  up 
the  laborious  duties  of  life  without  the  ob- 
stacles of  debts  or  of  pressing  wants.  He  was 
a  man  of  splendid  physique,  boundless  energy, 
and  excellent  judgment  in  the  management 
of  affairs. 


RESDIENCE  IN  THE  SECOND  WARD.    93 

Like  others  who  had  returned  from  a  mis- 
sion, he  was  called  upon  the  stand  to  make  a 
report  of  his  labors.  President  Young  recog- 
nized his  faithful  friend,  and  invited  this  young 
returning  missionary  to  occupy  a  place  on  the 
stand  beside  him.  President  Young  knew  the 
value  of  this  young  man's  services  in  the  past 
and  sought  them  for  the  future.  That  fall 
James  worked  on  the  Church  farm  just  south 
of  the  city,  where  he  was  occupied  in  putting 
up  hay  and  looking  after  the  stock. 

The  following  spring  of  1871,  Elder  James 
Jensen  and  a  friend  took  a  contract,  under  the 
direction  of  President  Young,  to  erect  a  four- 
board  fence  around  the  large  Church  farm  in 
Cache  Valley.  These  young  contractors  were 
conscientious  and  constructed  their  enclosure 
which  brought  them  more  praise  than  money. 
When  the  work  was  finally  accomplished,  he 
returned  in  the  fall  of  that  year  to  his  home  in 
the  second  ward.  He  was  now  able  to  add 
to  it  three  rooms,  a  pantry  and  a  bath.  ''Dur- 
ing my  absence,"  he  says,  "my  wife  was  per- 
haps more  industrious  in  the  care  of  her  gar- 
den than  I  was  in  building  a  fence  in  Cache 
Valley — and  my  work  there  was  perhaps  the 


94  JAMES  JENSEN 

most  taxing  of  any  work  I  had  ever  done  in 
my  life.  Mrs.  Jensen  had  raised  from  our 
garden  during  my  absence  with  the  help  of 
our  boy  Peter  all  sorts  of  vegetables ;  and  by 
her  industry  provided  much  of  our  living  for 
the  following  winter.'^ 

"In  the  spring  of  1872  George  Reese  and 
I   took   President   Young's   'Forest'   farm   on 
shares.    It  was  located  in  what  Is  now  known 
as  Forest  Dale.    We  were  to  receive  the  cus- 
tomary two-thirds  of  the  crop,  but  were  obliged 
to  pay  for  the  use  of  the  team  which  President 
Young  hired  to  us.    We  received  it,  however, 
on  excellent  terms  and  it  had  the  best  care  and 
attention.    That  was  for  us  a  prosperous  sum- 
mer.    Besides  our  living,  in  the  fall  of  the 
year  I  was  able  to  purchase  a  wagon,  team, 
and  harness.     We  had  worked  hard  but  were 
amply   rewarded   and   President   Young   was 
particularly  well   satisfied." 

During  these  strenuous  days  his  good  wife 
was  no  less  diligent  in  promoting  their  ma- 
terial well-being.  Under  her  direction  were 
the  garden,  the  cows,  and  the  chickens.  Twice 
a  week  she  walked  from  Forest  Dale  to  Salt 
Lake  City  with  eggs  and  butter  with  which 


RESIDENCE  IN  THE  SECOND  WARD.    95 

to  provide  the  groceries  and  other  necessaries 
of  the  home.  On  her  return  she  stopped  in 
the  second  and  tenth  wards  and  enjoyed  a  few 
minutes'  visit  with  her  parents  and  with  her 
husband's  father  and  mother. 

In  those  days  a  rough  element  came  in  from 
the  mines  and  other  places  to  pass  their  win- 
ters in  Salt  Lake  City.  By  their  carousals  and 
drinking  they  often  created  such  disturbance 
that  it  was  not  always  easy  for  the  local  con- 
stabulary to  subdue  them.  Special  police  were 
enlisted  and  into  that  service  James  Jensen  en- 
tered after  the  farm  work  of  the  summer  was 
practically  over.  Later  he  was  made  captain 
of  the  special  police. 

Elder  Jensen  speaks  of  his  experiences  as 
secretary  of  the  Second  Ward  Sunday  School, 
a  position  which  he  occupied  for  a  number  of 
years.  Whatever  accuracy  he  obtained  in  his 
knowledge  of  the  English  language  he  attrib- 
utes to  his  experiences  in  that  office.  He  of- 
ten wrote  out  the  minutes  in  the  Danish  lan- 
guage and  then  translated  them  into  English, 
and  by  consulting  his  dictionary  learned  much 
of  the  meaning  of  words  as  well  as  of  spelling. 
He  felt  himself  unqualified  for  such  work,  but 


96  JAMES  JENSEN 

he  was  painstaking,  faithful,  and  punctual  and 
his  work  was  appreciated  in  an  office  that  was 
very  much  neglected  at  that  time. 

In  the  year  1873  he  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Marie  Madsen,  his  first  wife  being  present 
at  the  ceremony.  His  wives  from  the  outset 
assumed  a  sisterly  relationship  which  they  en- 
joyed throughout  their  united  lives  in  the  fam- 
ily of  the  man  to  whom  they  had  given  so  fully 
their  confidence  and  their  love.  In  the  begin- 
ning the  home  was  so  divided  that  each  en- 
joyed her  own  apartment,  but  later  the  hus- 
band built  on  the  same  block  where  his  first 
wife  lived  a  brick  home  for  the  second. 

A  little  circumstance  in  relation  to  this  mar- 
riage is  here  worthy  of  mention.  The  second 
wife's  family  were  not  members  of  the  Church 
and  had  therefore  not  emigrated  from  their  na- 
tive land  in  Denmark  to  the  Valleys  of  the 
Mountains.  When  the  brothers  and  sisters  of 
Marie  learned  that  their  sister  had  married, 
and  that  she  had  gone  into  polygamy,  they  sent 
one  of  them,  Anthon  by  name,  to  Utah,  com- 
missioned by  them  tO'  learn  what  he  could  of 
his  sister's  welfare,  her  happiness,  and  her 
prospects  in  life.     Naturally    they    had    very 


Marie  Ji:nsen. 


RESIDENCE  IN  THE  SECOND  WARD.    97 

strong  misgivings  over  such  a  union,  and  the 
brotherly  and  sisterly  love  which  they  felt  for 
their  sister  led  them  to  desire  the  whole  truth 
about  the  family  life  which  was  contrary  to 
their  views  and  convictions.  The  brother  came 
more  in  a  spirit  of  inquiry  than  in  one  of  hos- 
tility, at  least  such  was  the  impression  he  made 
upon  his  sister's  husband  and  upon  both  of  his 
wives.  They  therefore  had  nothing  to  conceal 
'  from  him.  He  enjoyed  the  liberty  of  both 
homes,  observing  the  conduct  of  the  wives  to- 
ward one  another,  and  the  attitude  of  the  man 
who  had  assumed  polygamous  relations.  Af- 
ter he  had  been  here  sometime  he  wrote  a  let- 
ter to  his  brothers  and  sisters  in  Denmark. 
By  accident  the  letter  came  into  the  sister's 
hand.  The  substance  of  his  report  was  that 
he  found  his  sister  well  cared  for,  the  wife  of  a 
good  man,  and  happy  in  her  associations  with 
the  first  wife,  between  whom  and  his  sister 
there  was  a  genuine  sisterly  attachment.  The 
brother  remained  for  some  time  and  learned  to 
esteem  the  first  wife  of  this  family  apparently 
as  highly  as  he  esteemed  his  own  sister.  His 
conscience  would  not  let  him,  in  such  relation- 
ship as  he  found  between  his  sister  and  the  first 


98  JAMES  JENSEN 

wife,  show  any  partiality.  When  he  bought 
his  sister  a  present  he  bought  one  likewise  for 
the  first  wife.  After  fully  satisfying  himself 
about  the  welfare  of  his  sister  and  the  pro- 
tectorship of  her  husband,  he  finally  returned 
to  his  native  land,  convinced  that  whatever 
might  be  the  experiences  of  others  in  the  prac- 
tice of  polygamy,  his  sister  at  least  was  well- 
off  and  happy,  and  so  far  as  his  counsel  or  in- 
fluence went  she  was  left  in  peace  of  mind  to 
pursue  the  life  she  had  accepted  without  inter- 
ference. 

In  the  year  1876,  May  21st,  James  Jensen 
was  ordained  to  the  fifty-seventh  quorum  of  the 
seventies,  and  later  became  one  of  its  presi- 
dents. In  the  early  70's,  after  he  left  the  em- 
ploy of  President  Young,  much  of  his  time  was 
occupied  in  hauling  rock,  clay,  and  sand  with 
his  own  team.  He  cut  lucern  on  shares,  car- 
ried on  a  dairy,  and  he  and  his  family  all  lived 
and  worked  in  harmonious  effort  to  promote 
their  material  progress  in  life. 

In  the  later  70's  he  came  into  contact  with 
such  men  as  W.  W.  Riter  and  John  Clark, 
whose  lands  he  cultivated  on  shares.  He  likes 
to  speak  of  these  men  as  he  found  them  in  the 


RESIDENCE  IN  THE  SECOND  WARD.    99 

intimate  business  relations  of  life.  "Riter  was 
my  friend/'  he  says.  "He  always  dealt  with  me 
honestly  and  liberally.  He  seemed  to  make  it  a 
point  to  do  better  by  me  than  he  had  agreed 
to  do.  As  years  went  on,  my  confidence  in 
the  man  was  absolute  and  that  confidence  he 
scrupulously  kept,  and  I  shall  always  look  upon 
him  as  one  of  the  best  friends  I  have  had  in 
life.  W.  W.  Riter  was  certainly  good  and  hon- 
orable and  a  generous-hearted  man  so  far  as  I 
was  able  to  understand.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  high  council  when  I  was  appointed  Bishop, 
and  I  sometimes  wonder  if  he  did  not  have 
something  to  do  with  my  appointment.  At  any 
rate  he  was  always  so  good  to  me,  and  so  trust- 
ful towards  me,  that  I  was  naturally  compelled 
to  believe  that  he  was  my  friend." 

The  experiences  of  James  Jensen  in  the  Sec- 
ond Ward  were  so  pleasant  and  so  helpful  that 
he  often  recalls  that  period  of  twenty-five  years 
of  his  life  as  one  of  the  most  joyful  and  sat- 
isfactory that  had  been  his  lot  in  life  to  pass 
through.  When  Bishop  Samuel  Peterson 
moved  away  from  the  Second  Ward,  he  was 
succeeded  in  the  bishopric  by  Leonard  Hardy. 
James  Jensen  became  his  second  counselor  on 


100  JAMES  JENSEN 

March  30,  1890.  Alfred  Caine,  who  died  short- 
ly after  that,  was  the  first.  During  much  of  the 
time  of  Bishop  Hardy's  calling  in  the  bishopric 
he  was  absent  from  the  city  and  frequently 
traveled  with  John  W.  Taylor  in  the  interest  of 
the  "Defense  Fund.''  Elder  Jensen  was  thus 
left  with  the  responsibility  of  the  ward  resting 
upon  him.  To  its  duties,  to  its  cares,  he  de- 
voted himself  with  the  humble  desire  to  serve 
the  brothers  and  sisters,  over  whom  he  was 
really  presiding,  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

By  his  assiduous  labors,  and  the  excellent 
support  which  he  received  from  his  family,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  added  yearly  to  his  ma- 
terial comforts  and  to  his  advancement  finan- 
cially. He  was  a  lover  of  the  soil,  a  love  that 
came  to  him  not  alone  from  his  experiences 
but  from  the  rich  inheritance  that  his  nation- 
ality gave  him.  Denmark  is  noted,  perhaps, 
for  the  most  intensive  farming  to  be  found 
anywhere  in  the  world.  Its  inhabitants  really 
and  truly  love  the  soil,  and  to  their  loving  touch 
it  yields  more  to  the  acre  of  its  peculiar  kind 
than  any  other  spot  to  be  found  upon  the  earth. 
There  is,  too,  a  native  industry  about  the  Dan- 
ish that  makes  them  pecuHarly  successful  as 


RESIDENCE  IN  THE  SECOND  WARD.    101 

farmers.  Thus,  body  and  mind,  they  are  well 
equipped  as  tillers  of  the  soil. 

As  he  grew  in  means,  James  Jensen  began 
to  look  about  him  for  increased  opportunities. 
He  bought  a  small  piece  of  land  near  the  park, 
a  piece  of  five  acres.  Farther  south  he  had  an- 
other five-acre  lot,  but  they  did  not  answer  his 
needs ;  and  when  a  chance  came  to  him  for  the 
purchase  of  land  on  what  was  the  old  farm  of 
Brigham  Young  in  Forest  Dale,  he  was  ready 
to  talk  business.  From  Moroni  L.  Pratt  and 
others  he  bought  twelve  acres  of  land  for  the 
sum  of  $2,750,  a  little  better  than  $200  per 
acre.  He  experienced  some  trouble  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  title,  but  as  soon  as  it  was 
completed,  the  purchase  opened*"  to  him  a 
broader  field  of  work.  There  was,  too,  a  pe- 
culiar satisfaction  in  becoming  the  owner  of 
land  which  he  had  once  worked  on  shares  for 
others. 

In  those  days  of  the  middle  80's  there  was 
going  on  throughout  the  territory  the  most 
strenuous  prosecution  of  men  who  were  living 
in  polygamous  relations.  His  farm,  then  con- 
siderable distance  south  of  Salt  Lake  City,  of- 
fered some  opportunity  of  escape  from  the  sys- 


102  JAMES  JENSEN 

tern  of  espionage  to  which  he  was  subject.  He 
had  awakened  the  displeasure  of  a  woman  who 
was  his  neighbor  in  the  Second  Ward.  This 
woman  had  taken  a  child  to  raise,  but  her  treat- 
ment of  the  little  one  was  so  brutal  that  he  felt 
compelled,  whatever  the  consequences  to  him- 
self personally,  to  interfere  in  the  interest  of  a 
helpless  child.  The  woman  was  brought  to  the 
courts,  and  after  receiving  punishment,  she  be- 
came intensely  bitter  toward  the  man  who  had 
entered  a  complaint  against  her.  She  therefore 
sought  an  opportunity  to  make  trouble  for  him. 
She  induced  a  man  to  locate  in  that  neighbor- 
hood to  act  as  a  spotter.  He  and  another  of 
his  kind  were  constantly  sneaking  about  Elder 
Jensen's  homes.  They  dogged  his  footsteps 
almost  day  and  night  until  finally  by  acts  of 
kindness  he  won  the  good-will  of  one  of  the 
men  who  finally  became  friendly  to  him  and 
desisted  from  his  disagreeable  work. 

The  woman  took  another  small  child  to  raise, 
and  in  course  of  time  fell  into  a  quarrel  with 
her  husband  who  used  a  hatchet  on  her.  Dr. 
Benedict  was  called  to  attend  her  wounds. 
While  caring  for  this  woman,  who  did  so 
much  to  bring  annoyance  to  her  neighbor,  the 


RESIDENCE  IN  THE  SECOND  WARD.    103 

doctor  observed  under  a  pile  of  rags  in  one 
corner  movements  that  awakened  his  curiosity. 
He  went  to  Hft  the  covering  from  the  living 
object  beneath,  and  discovered  that  it  was 
a  naked  child  that  lay  there  in  the  dead  of  win- 
ter in  a  most  deplorable  condition.  Sometime 
later  this  woman,  who  had  sought  pretentious- 
ly to  reform  the  Mormon  system  of  marriage, 
died.  Those  of  her  class  with  whom  she  en- 
joyed some  meager  association,  threw  her  in- 
to a  coffin  without  taking  the  trouble  to  wa-'^ 
her  dirty  body,  after  which  she  was  buried 
unloved  and  unmourned. 

In  the  days  of  the  crusade  a  prominent  physi- 
cian of  the  city  interested  himself  in  the  pro- 
tection of  his  friend  whose  acquaintance  he  had 
made  in  earlier  days.  When  the  doctor  first 
came  to  the  city,  he  was  without  much  practice 
and  James  Jensen  gave  so  many  evidences  of 
friendship  through  his  helpfulness,  that  the 
doctor  and  his  wife — whatever  their  pre-con- 
ceived  notions  of  Mormonism  might  be — 
availed  themselves  of  every  opportunity  to  help 
and  protect  their  old-time  friend.  The  doc- 
tor sought  to  thwart  the  efforts  that  were  made 
to  arrest  Elder  Jensen  and  he  and  his  wife 


104  JAMES  JENSEN 

offered  their  home  as  a  place  of  refuge  for  the 
second  wife.  Papers  had  already  been  made 
out  for  Elder  Jensen's  arrest,  but  after  the  in- 
tercession of  the  doctor  in  his  behalf,  the  papers 
were  by  some  means  lost,  and  later  picked  up 
on  the  crossing  of  fifth  east  and  sixth  south. 
From  that  time  oil  he  heard  nothing  further 
of  any  efforts  to  put  him  under  arrest,  and 
his  gentile  friend  continued  in  his  determina- 
tion to  protect  the  man  who  had  been  his  friend 
in  earlier  days  and  who  was  still  his  good 
neighbor.  These  conditions  and  the  unsettled 
state  of  mind  of  his  family  naturally  made  the 
district  lying  south  of  the  city,  and  now  known 
as  Forest  Dale,  a  desirable  home  on  his  farm 
where  he  might  enjoy  some  seclusion.  His 
second  wife,  however,  remained  in  the  new 
home  which  he  had  erected  for  her  in  the 
Second  Ward.  Thus  these  peculiar  circum- 
stances and  the  agitation  of  those  times  brought 
him  to  the  place  where  his  services,  already 
great  in  the  past,  could  be  turned  to  the  best 
account  in  the  ward  over  which  he  was  subse- 
quently called  to  preside.  His  efforts  to  with- 
draw to  a  quiet  place  where  he  would  be  less 
conspicuous  and  less  a  shining  mark  for  the 


RESIDENCE  IN  THE  SECOND  WARD.  135 

adversary,  led  eventually  to  a  wider  field  of 
labor,  and  to  greater  prominence  in  the  Church 
which  he  always  loved  to  serve. 

In  the  spring  of  1891,  on  the  30th  of  April, 
James  Jensen  moved  with  his  first  wife  and 
three  of  his  second  wife's  children  to  his  farm 
of  twelve  acres  a  short  distance  north  of 
Calder's  Park.  Here  he  built  a  five-room  house 
which  he  subsequently  enlarged.  That  was  al- 
so a  conspicuous  day  in  the  street  car  history 
of  Salt  Lake  City.  It  was  the  day  on  which 
the  Rapid  Transit  Company  ran  its  first  car  to 
Calder's  Park,  in  later  years  known  as  Wanda- 
mere.  George  M.  Cannon  had  been  the  lead- 
ing spirit  in  opening  up  this  suburban  trans- 
portation. Besides  opening  a  street  from  Ash- 
ton  Avenue  to  James  Jensen's  farm,  he  paid  a 
bonus  to  the  company.  Elder  Jensen  gave  a 
right-of-way  through  his  farm  which  in  time 
became  occupied  by  numerous  families  who 
settled  in  the  "Dale." 

Upon  moving  to  his  new  home,  he  thought  it 
prudent  to  leave  his  families  separated  in  or- 
der to  avoid,  if  possible,  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment. He  had  prepared  a  pleasant  home  for 
his  other  wife  in  the  Second  Ward.     She  wa: 


106  JAMES  JENSEN 

interested  in  the  Church  work  there  and  so 
devoted  to  her  reHgious  duties  that  Bishop 
Hardy  desired  her  to  act  as  president  of  the 
ReHef  Society.  However,  it  was  not  long  be- 
fore she  was  prostrated  with  typhoid  fever. 
For  thirteen  days  and  nights  his  first  wife 
Petrina  watched  faithfully  and  devotedly  at 
the  bedside  of  the  woman  with  whom  she  was 
sharing  the  blessings  of  her  husband  and  her 
own  family  life.  Upon  the  death  of  Marie,  the 
faithful  wife  Petrina  gathered  the  former's 
children  into  her  home  where  she  served  them 
conscientiously  and  faithfully.  The  father 
found  it  necessary  to  add  to  his  home  in  Forest 
Dale  for  the  greater  convenience  of  the  en- 
larged family  there. 

The  few  scattering  families  then  inhabiting 
Forest  Dale  became  a  part  of  the  Sugar  House 
Ward.  Some  children,  however,  went  to  the 
city  to  attend  Sunday  School  until  such  time 
as  local  organizations  could  be  effected.  For- 
est Dale  was  a  beautiful  place,  and  it  was  be- 
lieved might  become  in  time  an  attractive  sub- 
urb of  Salt  Lake  City.  Much  of  the  land  had 
been  purchased  by  George  M.  Cannon,  who 
foresaw  something  of  future  opportunities 
there,   and   he   industriously   planted   a  large 


RESIDENCE  IN  THE  SECOND  WARD.     107 

number  of  various  kinds  of  shade  trees.  He 
perhaps  builded  better  than  he  knew.  For  the 
few  who  inhabited  this  sparsely  settled  dis- 
trict, an  organization  was  effected  known  as 
the  "Pleasant  Hours  Club,"  consisting  of  Wil- 
liam Spry,  George  M.  Cannon,  J.  W.  Summer- 
hays,  Stephen  H.  Love,  John  M.  Cannon,  and 
a  number  of  others.  The  club  finally  got 
up  a  sociable  in  order  to  bring  all  the 
members  of  the  community  together.  "This 
was  when  I  learned,"  jocularly  remarked 
the  good  Bishop,  "that  Stephen  Love  was  not 
a  deputy  marshal."  "I  remember,"  he  con- 
tinues, "in  those  early  days  some  sad  events. 
One  of  my  neighbors  was  compelled  to  con- 
duct a  funeral  in  an  upstair  room  and  in  soli- 
tude that  the  marital  relations  of  the  father 
and  mother  might  not  be  known." 

"As  our  community  increased  in  numbers, 
a  Mutual  Improvement  Association  was  or- 
ganized with  George  M.  Cannon  as  its  presi- 
dent, and  James  Hendry  and  B.  W.  Ashton  as 
Counselors.  Then  a  Sunday  School  was  or- 
ganized of  which  William  Hansen  was  super- 
intendent, with  Stephen  H.  Love  and  F.  M. 
Lyman,  Jr.,  as  assistants. 

"When  my  wife's  people  in  Denmark  learned 


108  JAMES  JENSEN 

of  her  death,  they  were  anxious  that  some  of  us 
should  pay  them  a  visit.  I  could  not  go  and  it 
was  not  possible  for  Mrs.  Jensen  to  leave,  so 
we  decided  to  send  our  oldest  daughter,  Joseph- 
ine, who  left  Salt  Lake  City  for  Denmark,  June 
24,  1893  in  company  with  Heber  C.  Iverson, 
George  Wallace,  and  Brother  Hubbard.  When 
they  reached  Chicago,  these  brethren  separated 
from  our  daughter  for  their  fields  of  labor  in 
different  parts  of  the  states,  and  Josephine 
joined  A.  W.  Carlson  and  his  wife  who  were 
then  on  their  way  to  Denmark.  After  a  visit 
of  four  months  among  her  relatives  she  re- 
turned to  Utah.  While  she  was  absent,  she 
was  assisted  in  her  travels  by  President  A.  H. 
Lund  who  had  come  in  the  same  company  with 
her  mother  to  Utah  in  1872.  President  Lund 
at  this  time  presided  over  the  European  mis- 
sion. It  was  Josephine's  Uncle  Anthon  who 
had  been  commissioned  by  his  brothers  to  go 
to  Utah  and  learn  of  the  condition  of  their  sis- 
ter who  had  married  in  polygamy.  Anthon 
had  become  so  favorably  impressed  with  the 
satisfactory  condition  of  his  sister  that  he  was 
most  painstaking  in  his  efforts  to  make  her 
daughter  happy  during  her  stay  in  Denmark. 


RESIDENCE  IN  THE  SECOND  WARD.    109 

Towards  the  wife  of  her  Uncle  Anthon,  the  girl 
entertained  deep-seated  feelings  of  affection. 
To  her  mind  the  wife  of  this  uncle  was  in  the 
higher  qualities  of  life  a  most  angelic  woman. 
On  her  return  to  Utah  she  visited,  in  1893, 
the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago.'' 

"The  little  community  in  Forest  Dale  con- 
tinued to  grow  in  numbers  until  it  was  found, 
in  time,  necessary  to  organize  it  into  a  branch, 
which  was  done  on  the  26th  of  May,  1895. 
Royal  B.  Young  was  placed  as  presiding  elder. 
Later  Elder  Young  was  appointed  first  coun- 
selor to  Bishop  Driggs  of  the  Sugar  House 
Ward  and  James  Jensen  was  then  made  the 
presiding  priest.  Through  the  generosity  of 
George  M.  Cannon,  the  old  farm-house  of 
President  Young  was  converted  into  the  first 
meeting-house  of  Forest  Dale." 

At  this  place  Elder  Jensen  stopped  to  relate 
a  peculiar  circumstance  of  the  death  of  Bishop 
Iverson's  father,  which  took  place  on  the  21st 
of  March,  1895.  "J^st  ten  years  before,  in 
1885,  I  was  invited  to  the  bedside  of  Brother 
Iverson,  who  it  was  thought  would  not  long 
survive  in  this  life.  As  I  approached  his  bed 
he  remarked,  'I  have  asked  the  Lord  to  ex- 


110  JAMES  JENSEN 

tend  my  life  that  I  may  raise  my  little  boy  who 
is  a  cripple,  and  I  have  just  received  from  Him 
the  promise  that  I  would  be  granted  ten  years 
more.'  I  was  at  his  bedside  again  ten  years 
from  that  time,  and  as  I  approached  him  he 
remarked,  'The  time  of  the  promise  made  me 
has  been  fulfilled  and  I  must  go.  You  can 
pray  for  me  if  you  wish  to,  but  it  will  do  no 
good.  My  hour  has  come  and  I  must  go.'  And 
he  closed  his  eyes  in  death.  It  was  a  strange 
circumstance  and  made  such  an  impression  up- 
on my  mind  that  I  shall  never  forget  it." 

The  period  covered  by  this  chapter  was  one 
of  strenuous  agricultural  efforts.  To  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  soil  he  gave  both  hand  and 
heart.  We  need  not  therefore  wonder  that  he 
relates  with  pride  some  of  his  accomplish- 
ments as  a  farmer.  Any  man  might  feel  proud 
that  he  had  raised  as  many  as  seventy-four 
bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre  and  that  he  had 
averaged  during  a  period  of  three  years  seven 
hundred  bushels  of  potatoes  to  the  acre.  That 
was  certainly  a  generous  response  of  the  soil 
to  enlightened  labor. 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  Ill 

CHAPTER  VI. 

BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE. 

Forest  Dale  was  organized  as  an  independent 
ward  of  the  Church,  August  23,  1896.  Its 
boundaries  were  established  as  follows :  Com- 
mencing at  the  intersection  of  12th  south  and 
9th  east,  the  eastern  boundary  extended  from 
12th  to  13th  south ;  the  southern  boundary  west 
along  13th  south  to  5th  east;  the  western  boun- 
dary, north  along  5th  east  to  12th  south ;  thence 
on  12th  south  to  9th  east.  James  Jensen  be- 
came its  bishop,  and  Royal  B.  Young  and 
James  Hendry  were  his  counselors. 

The  ward  over  which  the  new  Bishop  was 
called  to  preside  has  a  peculiar  historical  im- 
portance that  entitles  it  to  a  passing  notice  in 
the  narration  of  events  associated  with  the  life 
of  James  Jensen.  The  early  history  of  the  ward 
has  been  compiled  with  painstaking  care  by 
the  ward  historian,  Stephen  H.  Love,  to  whom 
I  am  indebted  for  the  account  hereinafter  giv- 
en.    Elder  Love  in  turn  acknowledges  his  in- 


112  JAMES  JENSEN 

debtedness  to  Hamilton  G.  Park,  an  employee 
of  President  Young,  for  much  of  the  informa- 
tion which  he  was  able  to  gather  concerning 
the  early  history  of  the  place. 

In  earlier  days,  what  subsequently  became 
Forest  Dale,  was  known  as  the  "Forest"  Farm, 
which  occupied  originally  an  area  of  one 
square  mile.  In  the  location  of  farms  in  the 
early  history  of  Salt  Lake  Valley,  President 
Young  acquired  the  ownership  of  the  place.  It 
was  noted  among  other  things  as  the  place  on 
which  the  first  sugar  beets  were  ever  grown 
within  the  territory.  Seed  for  the  beets  was 
brought  over  from  France  by  Apostle  John 
Taylor.  Machinery  was  subsequently  imported 
for  the  manufacture  of  sugar.  The  beets  met 
the  required  standard  of  saccharine;  but  the 
machinery,  primitive  when  compared  with  that 
at  present  employed  in  the  manufacture  of 
sugar,  was  not  satisfactory.  These  early  efforts, 
therefore,  resulted  in  a  failure.  The  beets, 
however,  were  used  for  making  molasses. 

The  next  important  thing  for  which  Forest 
Dale  was  noted  in  the  early  history  of  Utah, 
was  the  introduction  of  alfalfa.  Hamilton 
Park  gives  the  following  account  of  his  ex- 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  113 

periences  in  handling  the  hay :  "I  shall  never 
forget  when  the  first  alfalfa  was  about  ready 
to  cut.  President  Young  advertised  for  some 
one  who  knew  how  to  cure  the  hay.  He  se- 
cured no  one  and  the  task  fell  upon  me.  After 
cutting  the  lucern  it  was  put  into  the  barn.  In- 
side it  began  to  smoulder  and  smoke  and  I 
was  obliged  to  take  it  out  of  the  stable  for 
fear  the  barn  might  burn  down." 

The  third  item  of  historical  importance  was 
the  introduction  of  silk  production  in  Utah. 
Elder  Park  gives  the  following  interesting  ac- 
count of  that  effort:  "William  Buttle,  Wil- 
liam Hart,  and  I  planted  the  seed  from  which 
the  old  mulberry  grove  there  grew.  President 
Young  came  tq  the  farm  with  the  seed  and 
said,  'Hamilton,  I  want  about  an  acre  of 
ground  prepared.  It  must  be  put  in  good 
shape  because  this  is  precious  seed  all  the 
way  from  France.*  He  handed  me  a  package 
containing  between  two  and  three  pounds  of 
what  looked  to  me  like  mustard  seed.  We 
prepared  the  ground  carefully,  plowed,  and 
harrowed  it  five  or  six  times.  President  Young 
then  came  down  to  see  us  plant  it.  He  asked 
us  to  plant  the  seed  thick  because  some  of  it 


114  JAMES  JENSEN 

might  not  germinate.  We  did  so  and  the  young 
trees  came  up  as  thick  as  the  hair  on  a  dog's 
back.  The  trees  grew  rapidly  and  then  a 
cocoonery  was  built.  Silk  worms  were  im- 
ported from  France  and  a  Frenchman  who  un- 
derstood sericulture  was  brought  over.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  interest  hich  the  President  took 
in  the  matter,  Aunt  Zina  appeared  to  be  the 
leading  spirit,  and  quite  a  number  of  his  daugh- 
ters took  an  active  interest  in  the  enterprise. 
Aunt  Zina  was  very  faithful  but  the  girls  did 
not  find  in  the  work  so  much  enthusiasm.  When 
the  little  worms  hatched  out  and  went  to  work 
on  the  fresh  green  leaves,  we  thought  the  ques- 
tion of  producing  silk  in  Utah  was  solved. 
We  soon  discovered,  however,  that  it  took  a 
great  deal  of  patience,  skill,  and  expert  work 
before  the  silk  fabric  was  produced,  but  its 
production  was  finally  accomplished.'*  Those 
who  have  witnessed  the  tedious  process  by 
which  silk  is  grown  and  woven,  in  European 
countries  like  Italy  and  France,  will  easily  ap- 
preciate the  difficulties  which  could  not  be  sur- 
mounted in  those  early  days  of  Utah. 

Of  special  interest  historically,   is  the   old 
farm-house  which  still  stands  as  a  landmark  in 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  115 

the  early  history  of  Utah.  According  to  Mr. 
Park  it  was  commenced  in  the  fall  of  1861  and 
completed  in  1863.  President  Young  often  en- 
joyed his  work  there,  and  looked  upon  it  with 
feelings  of  pride.  It  was  there  that  distin- 
guished travelers  between  California  and  the 
East  were  often  entertained  through  the  hospi- 
tality of  President  Young.  "We  thought  it  a 
great  house  in  those  days.  In  fact,  it  was 
the  best  farm  house  and  stood  on  the  best  farm 
in  the  valley,"  said  Park.  After  the  death  of 
President  Young  this  historical  building  came 
into  the  ownership  of  Apostle  Brigham  Young, 
from  whom  its  ownership  was  conveyed  to 
John  W.  Young,  who  in  turn  sold  it  to  George 
M.  Cannon  in  1889. 

The  conception  of  this  beautiful  suburb 
originated  with  George  M.  Cannon,  who  di- 
vided up  the  land  covered  by  his  purchase  in- 
to building  lots.  He  began  at  once  the  settle- 
ment of  the  place  by  inviting  purchasers  from 
among  those  he  believed  to  be  good  citizens 
and  agreeable  neighbors.  The  rapid  growth 
of  the  community  was  largely  the  result  of  his 
efforts  in  secufing  settlers  and  street  car  trans- 
portation facilities.     The  community  will  al- 


116  JAMES  JENSEN 

ways  be  a  monument  to  the  foresight  of  the 
man  who  is  often  honorably  mentioned  as  the 
"Father  of  Forest  Dale." 

The  first  movement  for  the  settlement  of  the 
community  began  in  1890  when  Royal  B. 
Young  and  his  brother  Joseph  erected  choice 
homes  on  5th  east  street.  About  the  same  time 
the  homes  of  George  M.  Cannon,  James  Jen- 
sen, Thomas  Henderson,  Orson  Rummel,  N. 
S.  Timpson,  and  Stephen  Love  were  erected. 
The  following  year  brought  to  the  "Dale''  Jo- 
seph W.  Summerhays,  M.  C.  Morris,  James 
McMurrin,  and  William  Spry.  The  social  life 
in  Forest  Dale  in  those  early  days  was  so  pleas- 
ant that  many  were  attracted  to  the  new  com- 
munity because  of  the  simple  life  and  heart- 
felt recreation  of  the  people.  Amongst  the 
people  there  the  spirit  of  fraternal  good  will 
prevailed.  There  was  a  mutual  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  its  inhabitants  that  has  perhaps 
never  been  excelled  anywhere  throughout  the 
Church.  PubHc  and  leading  men  gladly  ac- 
cepted invitations  to  visit  Forest  Dale  and  to 
address  the  Saints  in  the  old  farm-house,  which 
had  been  tastefully  arranged  and  furnished  for 
public  worship.     Ward  organizations  sprang 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  117 

rapidly  into  existence  and  the  population  of  the 
community  grew  with  wonderful  rapidity.  Th- 
new  comers  consisted  largely  of  progressive 
young  men  who  were  ambitious  to  bring  about 
ideal  conditions  in  the  growth  of  their  chosen 
home  town.  Public  improvements  were  made 
as  rapidly  as  their  means  would  permit  and 
finally  a  beautiful  meeting-house  was  con- 
structed. In  its  surroundings  and  architecture 
its  beauty  is  perhaps  no  where  excelled 
throughout  all  the  Church.  As  a  rule  the  homes 
while  commodious  are  unpretentious.  Good 
order  prevails.  Friendship  among  the  people 
and  brotherly  love  are  proverbial.  Forest  Dale 
in  1910  became  the  largest  ward  in  the  Granite 
Stake  of  Zion,  and  it  is  said  that  Granite  is  the 
largest  stake  in  the  Church. 

Interwoven  in  the  history  of  Forest  Dale 
ward  is  the  life  of  James  Jensen  who  has  been 
from  its  organization  loyally  and  lovingly  sus- 
tained by  probably  every  member  of  the  ward. 
No  one  has  ever  questioned  his  peculiar  fitness 
for  the  leadership  which  he  has  enjoyed.  There 
follows  more  detailed  narration  of  the  indi- 
vidual part  he  played  in  the  up-building  of  the 
community  and  the  honors  he  has  received  at 


118  JAMES  JENSEN     - 

the  hands  of  the  people  over  whom  he  pre- 
sides, which  are  the  best  evidence  of  the  peo- 
ple's devotion  and  loving  confidence  in  their 
leader. 

The  Bishop  received  his  appointment  with 
some  reluctance.  He  had  taken  up  the  duties 
of  his  office  with  many  misgivings  about  his 
ability  to  carry  the  responsibilities  of  his  call- 
ing. The  people  did  not  share  the  fears  which 
troubled  him,  and  they  were  anxious  that  he 
should  know  how  pleased  they  were  with  his 
administration.  On  the  evening  of  the  8th  of 
September,  1897,  they  tendered  him  at  a  sur- 
prise party  in  the  Farm  House  a  beautiful 
testimonial  of  their  esteem  and  confidence.  As 
a  souvenir  of  the  occasion  he  was  presented 
by  them  with  a  gold  headed  cane.  (See  ap- 
pendix A.) 

After  reading  to  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
the  early  history  of  Forest  Dale  Ward,  I  was 
told  that  it  might  be  all  right  except  for  one 
thing,  and  that  was  the  failure  to  recognize 
the  important  part  taken  by  George  M.  Can- 
non in  everything  relating  to  the  welfare  of 
the  community,  religiously  and  materially.  I 
make  hereby  the  honorable  amende  and  give 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  119 

the  following  words  emphatically  spoken  by 
our  good  Bishop. 

"No  two  men  in  Forest  Dale  have  contrib- 
uted so  much  money  and  so  much  time  to  the 
ward  as  George  M.  Cannon.  -  Really  I  might 
make  this  statement  stronger  than  that.  It 
would  take  several  to  equal  him  in  contribu- 
tion; and  what  to  my  mind  is  equally  impor- 
tant, if  not  more  so,  is  the  most  excellent  judg- 
ment he  has  always  shown  upon  every  ques- 
tion. The  people  of  Forest  Dale,  as  a  rule, 
don't  begin  to  understand  how  much  Brother 
Cannon  has  done  for  Forest  Dale,  and  I  could 
not  consent  to  have  any  words  of  praise  given 
in  behalf  of  our  community  which  he  did  not 
share.  Of  course,  the  town  will  always  be  a 
monument  to  his  wisdom,  to  his  good  advice, 
and  to  his  generosity.  We  have,  it  is  true,  a 
large  number  of  big-hearted  men  and  women 
whose  helpfulness  has  been  all  that  could  be 
desired,  but  I  think  that  this  special  mention 
is  due  Brother  Cannon;  and  if  it  were  not 
given,  those  who  read  the  book  would  feel  some 
disappointment  by  reason  of  such  an  omission. 

''On  February  3,  1899  we  gave  Brother 
George  M.  Cannon  a  surprise  in  recognition 


120  JAMES  JENSEN 

of  what  he  had  done  for  the  ward  and  you 
may  insert  the  following  statement  and  reso- 
lution offered  by  the  Bishop  and  unanimously 
adopted  by  all  present : 

Forest  Dale,  Utah,  February  s^d,  i8gg. 
Dear  Brother,  George  M.  Cannon. 

We  have  long  felt  that  you  should  know  that  the 
prominent  part  which  you  have  taken  in  building  up 
this  ideal  community  is  appreciated  by  every  officer 
and  member  of  this  united,  loving,  and  God-fearing 
people  now  composing  Forest  Dale  Ward. 

Since  the  year  1891,  when  you  and  your  amiable 
wife  and  loving  children  made  Forest  Dale  your 
home,  we  have  learned  to  know  you,  and  to  love  you. 
Your  frank,  loving,  and  gentle  ways,  with  rich  and 
poor  alike,  have  won  for  you  a  tender  spot  in  the 
heart  of  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  this  ward. 

Your  ability  and  sound  judgment  have  caused  your 
counsel  to  be  eagerly  sought,  which  has  been 
most  pleasantly  and  willingly  given.  Your  kind  and 
good  advice  in  meetings,  on  street  cars,  and  on  the 
road  side,  to  our  boys  and  girls,  has  gained  for  you 
the  lasting  gratitude  of  many  parents  and  the  love 
and  esteem  of  our  young  people. 

We  owe  to  you,  esteemed  friend,  much  of  our  suc- 
cess as  a  ward.  You  have  not  only  furnished  us 
with  this  dear  old  house  in  which  we  are  now  as- 
sembled to  do  you  honor,  but  you  have  been  among 
the  foremost  to  assist  in  making  the  necessary 
changes  for  the  accommodation  of  our  people. 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  121 

THEREFORE,  BE  IT  RESOLVED  that  we,  the 
people  of  Forest  Dale,  tender  Brother  George  M. 
Cannon  our  sincere  thanks,  kuidest  regards,  and  best 
wishes.  We  admire  him  as  a  citizen,  a  neighbor,  and 
a  Latter-day  Saiint;  and  we  unitedly  say,  God  bless 
Brother  George  M.  Cannon  and  his  family. 
James  Jensen,  Bishop. 

In  behalf  of  the  people  of 

Forest  Dale  Ward. 

The  Forest  Dale  meetinghouse  will  always 
be  linked  in  the  memories  of  the  people  with 
the  life  and  labors  of  the  man  who  first  pre- 
sided within  its  walls  over  the  congregations  of 
the  people.  A  special  meeting  was  held  in  the 
old  Farm  House,  December  17,  1900,  when  the 
question  of  erecting  a  new  ward  house  was 
taken  into  consideration.  The  Bishop  presided 
at  the  meeting  where  he  submitted  to  those 
present  the  following  for  their  deliberation  and 
decision : 

1st — Do  we  need  a  ward  house? 

2nd — Do  we  want  such  a  house  ? 

3rd — What  kind  of  a  house  do  we  want? 

4th — Will  we  stand  by  each  other  in  carry- 
ing the  decision  of  this  meeting  into  effect  ? 

After  the  decision  was  reached,  a  building 


122   _  JAMES  JENSEN 

committee  was  appointed  and  unanimously 
sustained.  Thus  began  the  beautiful  ward 
home  that  now  adorns  Forest  Dale. 

Subsequently  the  matter  of  a  new  ward 
house  was  submitted  to  a  congregation  as- 
sembled in  Sabbath  worship.  The  Bishop  sub- 
mitted the  question  of  collecting  the  means  for 
its  erection.  The  Saints  were  unanimous  in 
the  decision  that  allotments  be  made  to  the  sev- 
eral famihes  of  the  ward,  and  that  the  com- 
mittee chosen  by  the  ward  that  day  act  in  as- 
signing to  the  members  the  several  amounts  the 
committee  believed  each  one  able  to  pay. 

"The  response  of  the  people  to  the  demands 
of  this  new  enterprise  has  in  it  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  recollections  of  my  life,"  said  the  Bish- 
op. ''All  were  satisfied  with  the  allotments  made 
and  many  paid  more  than  they  agreed  to.  There 
was  a  most  pleasing  enthusiasm  among  a  num- 
ber of  the  brothers  and  sisters  who  made  their 
contribution  to  our  ward  house  a  source  of 
genuine  pride.  One  of  the  members  of  the 
ward  made  contributions  for  and  in  behalf  of 
thirteen  of  our  widowed  sisters,  but  as  far  as 
I  know,  they  never  learned  who  the  person  was 
that  so  kindly  remembered  them.    Some  of  the 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  123 

widows  to  whom  five  dollars  each  was  alloted 
increased  their  contributions  sixfold.  A  broth- 
er who  was  at  the  time  presiding  over  the 
European  mission  learning  of  this  generous  ef- 
fort on  the  part  of  our  widows  sent  for  their 
names  and  forwarded  each,  upon  receiving 
them,  a  check  for  the  full  amount  of  the  sum 
donated  by  them.  Out  of  respect  to  his  wishes 
in  the  matter,  I  am  not  permitted  to  use  his 
name.  What  to  these  sisters  was  more  prec- 
ious than  the  money  received  were  the  letters 
containing  the  good  will  and  blessings  of  their 
author. 

'There  are  many  circumstances  connected 
with  the  generous  contributions  of  the  people 
that  might  be  related  if  I  felt  at  liberty  to  give 
the  names  of  the  donors  and  the  expressions 
of  their  good  cheer  under  all  circumstances.  I 
would  like  very  much  to  mention  the  names  of 
those  most  active  and  faithful  in  the  erection  of 
our  new  ward  house  if  I  could  do  so  without 
any  appearance  of  partiaHty.  The  people,  how- 
ever, have  in  their  minds  those  men  and  wom- 
en who  are  always  generous,  even  enthusiastic 
in  all  they  do.     Brother  Melvin  Morris  was 


124  JAMES  JENSEN 

oar  treasurer.  What  a  faithful  man  he  was  in 
that  office! 

"The  corner-stone  was  laid  in  1902.  John  W. 
Taylor  pronounced  the  benediction.  The  build- 
ing was  completed  and  dedicated  on  the  23rd 
of  July,  1905.  President  Joseph  F.  Smith  of- 
fered the  dedicatory  prayer.  (Appendix  B.) 
The  building  has  cost  us  in  round  numbers 
twenty-six  thousand  dollars,  and  the  Presi- 
dency of  the  Church  kindly  remembered  us  in 
our  efforts. 

"Some  of  the  choicest  memories  of  my  life 
are  associated  with  the  old  Farm  House.  The 
ward  was  not  so  large  in  those  early  days  and 
there  was  among  the  people  a  brotherly  and 
sisterly  love  which  was  really  beautiful  and  in- 
spiring. Our  gatherings  there  were  devoid  of 
all  ceremony  and  affectation  and  we  were  just 
like  one  large,  happy  family.  In  that  old  build- 
ing there  was  something  so  sincere  in  our  wor- 
ship and  so  simple,  so  free  from  jealousy,  envy, 
or  disagreeable  circumstances,  that  I  really  left 
the  dear  old  place  with  feelings  of  regret.  Of 
course  we  had  outgrown  it  and  needed  more 
room,  but  we  shall  all  remember  those  happy 
days. 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  125 

"The  first  meeting  held  by  the  ward  m  the 
new  building  was  December  6,  1903.  It  was- 
a  sort  of  farewell  parting  to  our  old  ward 
home.  The  spirit  of  familiarity  and  jovial  re- 
lations was  shown  in  the  poems  read  by  Broth- 
er Ashton  on  that  occasion.'' 

'The  last  fast  meeting  held  in  the  old 
building  made  such  a  peculiar  and  lasting 
impression  on  my  feelings  that  I  shall  never 
forget  some  of  the  things  which  took  place 
at  the  time.  One  circumstance  I  would 
like  to  relate  before  closing  what  I  have 
to  say.  It  was  a  fast  day.  Just  after 
the  meeting  opened,  we  set  apart  some  of 
our  young  people  as  religion  class  teachers. 
Among  them  was  Miss  Louie  Morris  and  it  fell 
to  Brother  Royal  B.  Young  to  lead  in  prayer. 
After  pronouncing  the  usual  blessing  upon  her, 
he  hesitated  a  moment  and  then  in  words  of 
prayer  he  promised  her  the  gift  of  tongues. 
'The  use  of  which,'  he  continued,  'you  shall  this 
day  make.'  When  Brother  Young  sat  down 
by  me  after  this  part  of  our  services  was  com- 
pleted I  remarked,  'How  did  you  dare  make 
such  a  promise?'  He  was  evidently  as  fearful 
as  I  was  about  the  words  he  had  spoken,  and 


126  JAMES  JENSEN 

the  meeting  went  on,  but  as  it  neared  the  end 
I  became  more  and  more  fearful  about  what 
had  been  said  by  way  of  promise  to  our  young 
sister.  Brother  Royal,  I  noticed,  was  himself 
very  nervous.  We  were  about  to  close  our 
meeting  when  Sister  Louie  Morris  arose  and 
spoke  in  tongues.  She  was  in  the  choir  be- 
hind the  seats  occupied  by  the  bishopric.  I 
turned  and  looked  at  her.  Her  hands  moved 
out  gently  over  us  and  I  do  not  think  in  my 
life  I  ever  beheld  a  more  beautiful  face.  She 
spoke  in  a  strange  language  and  in  a  free,  easy, 
and  soothing  manner.  Her  words  carried  with 
them  a  strong  conviction  to  my  mind.  To 
Brother  Royal  B.  Young  the  power  of  inter- 
pretation was  given.  She  spoke  of  him  and 
others  and  in  directing  her  remarks  to  him  she 
said,  'Other  and  great  trials  still  await  you  and 
you  should  be  prepared  to  meet  them.'  To 
my  mind  the  spirit  of  that  fast  meeting  was  a 
beautiful  testimony  of  the  true  spirit  of  wor- 
ship which  we  had  always  enjoyed  in  that 
building.  It  was  an  appropriate  ending  to  our 
fast  day  services  there." 

While  most  of  Bishop  Jensen's  time  was  oc- 
cupied in  the  affairs  of  the  ward,  he  found 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  127 

some  diversion  by  reason  of  his  interests  in 
Canada.  A  few  years  before,  some  of  his  boys 
had  gone  to  that  country  for  the  purpose  of 
estabHshing  homes.  Later  on  he  made  some 
investments;  there  with  the  view  of  aiding  his 
children  in  their  pioneer  work  in  that  land.  His 
son,  WilHam  H.,  and  Miss  Pitt  were  the  first 
couple  married  in  Raymond,  and  as  a  reward 
for  this  novel  and  pioneer  movement,  J.  Wil- 
liam Knight  gave  them  ten  dollars,  and  Charles 
McCarty,  one  week's  entertainment  at  the  hotel 
free. 

For  some  time  Canada  occupied  a  prominent 
place  in  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the 
Bishop.  Three  of  his  sons  were  there,  and  his 
daughter,  Annie,  wife  of  Soren  Neve,  joined 
her  brothers,  and  was  there  in  1904  in  a  crit- 
ically dangerous  condition  when  the  Bishop 
and  his  good  wife  hastened  to  the  bedside  of 
his  daughter  whose  home  they  reached  on  the 
13th  of  February,  1904. 

In  Alberta,  in  February,  they  sometimes 
have  delightful  days  and  sometimes  the  ther- 
mometer may  be  so  far  below  zero  as  to  con- 
geal the  marrow  in  the  bones.  When  they 
reached  Sterling,  they  found  one  of  those  aw- 


128  JAMES  JENSEN 

ful  drops  in  the  thermometer,  and  through  a 
misunderstanding  they  were  not  met  by  their 
sons  at  the  station  where  they  aHghted.  The 
distance  from  SterHng  to  the  John  M.  Cannon 
farm  where  their  sons  lived  was  only  five 
miles.  Their  great  anxiety  to  learn  the  condi- 
tion of  their  daughter  who  was  then  in  Ma- 
grath  would  admit  of  no  delay.  A  mile's 
travel  at  that  time  was  sufficient  to  endanger 
their  lives  unless  they  were  prepared  for  such 
an  emergency.  They  found  a  man  at  the  sta- 
tion with  a  carriage  drawn  by  a  large  slow- 
moving  span  of  draft  horses.  There  were  no 
wraps  in  the  carriage  either  for  safety  or  com- 
fort and  they  were  not  prepared  by  what  they 
brought  with  them  for  such  an  emergency. 
Think  of  such  a  ride !  the  thermometer  twenty 
degrees  below  zero,  slow  team,  and  no  wraps. 
"Well,''  the  Bishop  said,  'T  thought  we  should 
freeze  to  death,"  and  the  wonder  is  that  both  of 
them  did  not  freeze  to  death  under  the  circum- 
stances. He  classes  that  event  as  one  of  the 
very  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  life.  To  say 
the  least  it  was  a  hazardous  undertaking. 

During  the  years  1906-7  nothing  out  of  the 
ordinary  daily  routine  of  life  occurred  as  im- 


o 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  129 

portant  history  in  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
The  year  1908,  after  a  little  more  than  ten 
year's  services  as  Bishop  of  the  ward,  its  mem- 
bers in  spontaneous  unison  prepared  another 
surprise  for  their  good  Bishop.  The  follow- 
ing is  copied  from  the  Deseret  Evening  News: 

TESTIMONIAL   TO   BISHOP   JENSEN 

'That  the  people  of  Forest  Dale  Ward  high- 
ly esteem  Bishop  James  Jensen  was  abundantly 
evidenced  in  the  proceedings  in  the  ward  meet- 
inghouse at  the  regular  services  on  Sunday 
evening.  Under  the  plea  of  devoting  an  eve- 
ning to  the  auxiliary  organizations  of  the  ward, 
a  committee  obtained  permission  from  the  bish- 
opric to  arrange  a  program  and  conduct  the 
exercises  that  evening.  Word  was  then  quietly 
circulated  through  the  ward  that  the  evening 
was  intended  to  be  devoted  to  not  only  the 
auxiliary  work,  but  also  as  a  testimonial  to  the 
Bishop. 

"At  the  hour  for  the  meeting  the  regular  seats 
were  completely  filled  and  chairs  were  brought 
in  and  every  foot  of  available  room  occupied, 
while  some  late  comers  were  obliged  to  remain 

10 


130  JAMES  JENSEN 

standing.  Brief  addresses  were  then  made  by 
representatives  of  the  priesthood  of  the  ward 
and  of  each  auxihary  organization,  after  which 
,  written  sentiments  of  the  esteem  in  which  the 
Bishop  is  held  by  the  people  were  read  by  Jo- 
seph W.  Musser.  These  sentiments  opened 
with  those  from  the  counselors  of  the  Bishop 
and  included  all  grades  of  the  priesthood  of 
the  ward  and  the  auxiliary  organizations.  They 
had  been  carefully  typewritten,  then  signed  by 
the  representatives  of  the  people  and  elegantly 
bound  in  limp  leather,  the  inscription  on  the 
back  being  done  in  gold  leaf  in  the  best  style 
of  the  Deseret  Nezirs  bindery.  (Appendix  C.) 
"Counselor  Royal  B.  Young  then,  on  behalf 
of  the  people,  in  a  few  well  chosen  words,  pre- 
sented the  Bishop  with  a  fine  Waltham  watch 
in  a  solid  gold  case,  upon  the  inside  of  which 
were  inscribed  the  words,  *To  Bishop  James 
Jensen,  from  the  people  of  Forest  Dale  ward, 
Jan.  19,  1908.'  The  Bishop  was  deeply  af- 
fected by  the  sentiments  expressed  and  modest- 
ly disclaimed  any  actions  on  his  part  entitling 
him  to  the  consideration  shown,  but  thanking 
the  people  for  their  expressions  of  esteem  and 
good  will  and  asking  their  help  to  make  the 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  131 

ward  a  model  in  union  and  in  progresive  spirit. 
George  M.  Cannon  had  been  chosen  by  the 
committee  to  conduct  the  exercises.  One  of  the 
most  pleasing  features  of  the  evening  was  the 
singing — solos,'  ladies'  chorus  and  the  choir, 
all  the  music  being  arranged  and  conducted  by 
James  T.  Dunbar,  the  ward  chorister.'' 

The  year  1909  brought  some  changes  in  the 
ward  organization.  Brother  Royal  B.  Young, 
who  had  for  so  many  years  served  as  first  coun- 
selor to  the  Bishop,  resigned  amid  expressions 
of  the  heart-felt  regrets  of  the  entire  ward, 
who  will  always  hold  in  loving  memory  his 
cheerful  and  encouraging  testimonies  and  ad- 
monitions. Elder  James  Hendry  was  then  se- 
lected first  counselor  and  Eugene  M.  Cannon 
second  counselor  in  the  bishopric. 

The  summer  of  1910  brought  to  Bishop  Jen- 
sen apprehensions  about  his  physical  condition. 
He  felt  that  unless  some  drastic  remedy  were 
undertaken  that  he  could  not  long  enjoy  life. 
On  the  14th  of  July  that  year  he  therefore  un- 
derwent a  surgical  operation  at  the  L.  D.  S. 
Hospital.  His  condition  was  so  critcal  that  it 
needed  the  faithful  and  constant  watch-care  of 


132  JAMES  JENSEN 

his  wife,  who  for  ten  years  had  been  the  presi- 
dent of  the  ReHef  Society  of  the  ward.  That 
she  might  devote  undisturbed  her  attentions 
thereafter  to  her  husband,  she  was  honorably 
released  from  her  calling  after  years  of  faithful 
service.  The  members  of  the  ward  for  weeks 
received  daily  the  reports  of  their  Bishop's  con- 
dition as  he  lay  in  the  hospital.  Loving  hands 
carried  almost  daily  bouquets  of  flowers  to  the 
sick  room  that  he  might  be  animated  and  re- 
freshed by  their  beauty  and  sweet  .perfume. 

He  remembers  the  kind  ministrations  of  his 
nurse,  Miss  Minnie  Wheeler,  and  speaks  of  her 
with  feelings  of  gratitude.  He  has  little  to  say 
of  himself  or  of  his  thought  and  feelings  as  he 
lay  upon  his  sick  bed  wondering  about  the  con- 
ditions of  eternity.  However,  he  often  men- 
tioned the  faithful  services  of  his  kind  coun- 
selors and  Brother  Weiler,  the  ward  clerk,  who 
were  all  so  indefatigable  in  looking  after  the 
welfare  and  progress  of  the  ward. 

In  concluding  this  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
Bishop  James  Jensen,  the  writer  undertakes 
to  say  in  behalf  of  the  good  people  over  whom 
their  faithful  Bishop  has  presided  for  so  many 
years,  that  he  has  inspired  them  with  patriotic 


BISHOP  OF  FOREST  DALE.  133 

and  loyal  determination  to  accomplish  the  best 
within  them.  Their  wish  to  please  and  honor 
him  has  manifested  itself  in  the  unity  and  good 
cheer  of  the  home,  in  cleanly  and  orderly  home 
surroundings,  and  in  their  devotion  to  Sabbath 
worship.  In  the  erection  of  homes  in  Forest 
Dale  people  have  unanimously  and  cheerfully 
respected  the  wishes  of  their  Bishop  who  has 
kindly  admonished  them  to  respect  the  wishes 
and  feelings  of  the  people  in  the  position  and 
erection  of  their  houses.  It  is  an  orderly  com- 
munity. Its  beautiful  surroundings  and  good 
order  will  remain  a  testimonial  to  his  faithful 
and  devoted  services. 


134  JAMES  JENSEN 

CHAPTER  VII. 

CHARACTER  SKETCH. 

Few  bishops  in  the  Church  have  been  more 
highly  respected  by  the  people  over  whom  they 
presided  than  is  Bishop  James  Jensen  of  the 
Forest  Dale  Ward.  His  administration  of  the 
duties  of  the  important  office  to  which  he  has 
been  called  has  won  the  admiration  of  his  flock 
and  commanded  their  prompt  response  and 
heart-felt  loyalty. 

Bishop  Jensen  is  a  man  somewhat  large 
in  stature,  of  muscular  form,  and  active  move- 
ments. His  powers  of  observation  and  reason 
are  well  developed,  and  his  mental  activity  of 
a  high  order.  He  naturally  has  felt  the  ab- 
sence of  an  early  school  training  whose  advan- 
tages he  had  the  power  of  mind  and  heart  to 
put  to  superior  use.  He  clearly  comprehends 
the  resources  which  a  better  training  would 
have  placed  at  his  command,  and  he  there- 
fore has  had  some  regrets  which  touched  him 
deeply.  He  never  underestimated  the  value  of 
an  education,  because  his  mental  grasp,  was  so 


CHARACTER  SKETCH.  135 

broad  and  his  judgment  so  well  balanced  that 
he  could  have  put'  the  lessons  of  the  school  to 
most  excellent  service.  His  reasoning'  pov^ers 
qualified  him  to  grasp  the  general  problems  of 
life.  He  approaches  men  as  a  man  of  affairs 
and  takes  a  deep  interest  in  public  questions. 

He  is  not  a  man  of  adventurous  excesses, 
and  has  kept  himself  well  within  safe  limits. 
His  ideas  are  never  extravagant  and  are  gen- 
erally well  considered  before  they  are  ex- 
pressed. His  mental  reservations  constitute 
one  of  his  chief  characteristics.  *'I  have  my 
own  opinions  all  the  same,"  is  a  commonplace 
expression  that  tells  the  whole  story  of  an 
independent  judgment.  He  has  thought  things 
out  for  himself,  and  must  therefore  from  con- 
viction be  in  harmony  with  other  peoples'  the- 
ories before  he  is  ready  to  accept  them. 

His  lofty  spiritual  and  intellectual  nature  has 
made  it  quite  impossible  for  him  to  do  anything 
small  or  mean.  "I  would  be  above  it,''  is  the 
language  of  the  man  when  taking  exceptions  to 
things  that  were  unworthy  or  deceptive.  James 
Jensen  has  never  deceived  any  one.  His  way 
and  methods  are  in  the  open,  everybody 
knows  that  he  is  on  the  side  of  his  best  judg- 


136  JAMES  JENSEN 

ment  and  of  his  conscience,  and  they  are  usu- 
ally sound.  When  he  puts  his  hand  to  a  task, 
he  gives  to  it  the  best  there  is  in  him,  and 
then  after  due  deliberation.  He  has  always 
made  a  study  of  every  possibility  of  failure. 
He  is  scrupulously  anxious  to  be  on  the  right 
side  of  every  question,  of  every  undertaking. 
He  prefers  to  make  due  allowance  for  other 
mens'  failures  in  public  life,  arrd  has  something 
generally  in  reserve  to  make  good  that  which  is 
lacking  in  them.  He  is  rarely  the  first  man  to 
launch  an  enterprise  or  devise  some  needed 
improvement ;  but  when  once  he  puts  his  hand 
to  the  plow,  he  is  one  of  the  last  to  look  back. 
In  the  race  of  life,  he  has  been  careful  not  to 
take  on  a  pace  which  he  could  not  keep  up. 

Bishop  Jensen  belongs  to  a  class  of  men  who 
grow,  grow  all  their  lives.  His  last  days  are 
his  best.  His  reserve  powers  are  not  like  those 
of  many — exhausted  in  early  life.  The  super- 
abundance of  vitality  with  which  he  has  been 
endowed  fed  both  his  spiritual  and  intellectual 
nature.  He  sees  things  more  clearly  as  time 
goes  on.  His  reasoning  powers  have  grown 
with  experience  and  with  their  application.  He 
has   out-grown   in   a   large   measure   timidity 


CHARACTER  SKETCH.  137 

and  has  gradually  felt  the  self-confidence  which 
comes  from  accuracy  and  care.  The  spirit  of 
equality  has  developed  within  him  as  he  has 
felt  his  own  strength  come  up  to  that  of  his 
associates.  He  has  been  so  unconscious  of  his 
own  qualities  of  head  and  heart  that  the  great- 
est mistake  of  his  public  Hfe  has  been  the  in- 
feriority he  attaches  to  them.  From  discussing 
a  limited  number  of  questions  in  the  beginning, 
he  has  extended  his  horizon  to  the  view  of  all 
questions  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  those 
over  whom  he  has  presided.  He  has  grown 
more  rapidly  in  the  estimation  of  others  than 
in  his  own  estimation.  To  them  his  latent  re- 
sources have  been  more  apparent.  He  has 
aimed  intellectually  more  at  the  safe  side  of  a 
proposition  that  at  a  brilliant  display  of  wis- 
dom. 

Though  he  has  laid  no  claim  to  any  special 
knowledge  of  theological  questions,  his  judg- 
ment on  religious  subjects  has  always  been 
sound.  The  people  therefore  have  felt  that  h^ 
was  a  ^'safe"  man  to  follow  and  no  one  has 
doubted  him  half  so  much  as  he  has  doubted 
himself.  His  self-depreciation  has  never  been 
shared  by  the  members  of  his  ward,  and  this 


138  JAMES  JENSEN      . 

has  been,  perhaps,  the  weakest  point  in  the 
general  character  of  the  man.  He,  all  along, 
has  been  painfully  afraid  of  mistakes,  and  a 
mistake  has  been  so  much  dreaded  at  times 
that  he  hesitated  where  others  have  been  fear- 
less. 

Such  a  character  as  Bishop  James  Jensen  will 
grow  in  the  appreciation  and  memories  of  the 
people  long  after  his  own  generation  has  passed 
away.  It  would,  perhaps,  not  be  correct  to 
speak  of  him  as  a  model  Bishop,  yet  he  has 
been  such  an  example  of  what  we  regard  as 
the  highest  type  of  man  in  that  office  that  some 
analysis  of  the  character  of  the  man  will  be 
helpful  to  every  Bishop  in  the  Church,  and  to 
every  one  who  takes  pride  in  the  Bishop  of  the 
ward  in  which  he  lives.  His  life  and  the  qual- 
ity of  his  heart  and  mind  aie  worthy  of  re- 
spectful attention  by  all  who  esteem  the  high 
office  which  he  has  filled  so  admirably  and  with 
such  satisfaction  to  his  people,  for  they  are  his 
— he  possesses  their  love  and  loyalty.  Let 
others  see  him  as  his  own  see  him. 

The  humble  circumstances  of  his  birth,  his 
early  struggles,  and  the  disadvantages  with 
which  he  had  to  meet  the  hardships  of  a  com- 


CHARACTER  SKETCH.  139 

munity  in  process  of  transformation  all  made 
him  clearly  conscious  of  what  ''might  have 
been/'  He  has  reckoned  his  losses  in  the  many 
unequal  struggles  to  which  he  has  been  sub- 
jected and  sought  to  "make  good"  where  the 
possibilities  were  in  his  favor.  He  has  kept  his 
eye  on  the  people,  especially  on  those  whose 
qualifications  he  admired,  and  has  made  their 
lives  profitable  to  his  own.  He  has  been  all  his 
life  unconsciously  looking  up.  That  habit  has 
made  him  painfully  conscious  when  called  to 
responsible  action  himself. 

It  would  be  wrong  to  speak  of  Bishop  Jen- 
sen as  an  uneducated  man.  He  has  been  a 
close  student  of  human  nature  and  of  human 
endeavor.  His  knowledge  of  men  and  the 
underlying  quality  of  their  lives  has  been  truly 
remarkable.  Such  knowledge  has  come  to  him 
intuitively  and  he  could  not  easily  be  shaken 
in  the  estimates  which  he  makes  of  others. 
He  has  never  given  much  attention  to  the  de- 
tails by  which  he  arrived  at  a  conclusion  re- 
specting men  or  things.  He  has  been  given 
the  power  to  grasp  things  in  their  entirety. 
His  judgments,  therefore,  are  not  broken  or 
fragmentary.    They  are  the  finished  product  of 


140  JAMES  JENSEN 

his  mind.  He  is  consequently  not  given  to  ar- 
guments. You  have  his  ideas  and  you  may 
take  them  for  what  they  are  worth.  Con- 
scious of  the  wholesale  manner  in  which  he 
reaches  conclusions,  he  gives  them  out  spar- 
ingly. Then,  he  knows  himself  better  even 
than  he  knows  others;  and  being  honest  with 
himself,  he  is  not  easily  reached  by  flattery, 
nor  warped  by  other  people's  views. 

Besides,  he  has  felt  keenly  the  responsibility 
of  every  act  which  touched  the  welfare  and 
happiness  of  others.  That  responsibility  he  as- 
sumed fully  and  honestly.  No  man  ever  suf- 
fered for  a  mistake  which  James  Jensen  shifted 
from  his  own  shoulders.  Expecting  to  meet 
manfully  the  full  results  of  whatever  he  did, 
he  has  felt  compelled  to  follow  an  unbiased 
judgment  rather  than  a  prejudice  imbibed  from 
other  men's  opinions.  If  he  felt  uncertain,  he 
said  so,  and  sought  the  aid  of  others  in  making 
his  way  clear.  When  it  is  said  that  he  reaches 
conclusions  in  a  wholesale  manner,  it  must  not 
be  inferred  that  he  reaches  them  hastily.  On 
the  contrary,  he  takes  his  time.  His  uncertain- 
ties and  his  unripened  judgments   he  rarely 


CHARACTER  SKETCH.  141 

imposes  upon  others.     If  it  were  necessary  to 
wait  a  month  or  a  year,  he  waited. 

Bishop  Jensen  is  a  wise  man,  a  man  of  sound 
judgment.  Wisdom  is  the  fruit  of  the  spirit 
rather  than  of  the  mind ;  but  there  is  a  beauti- 
ful harmony  between  what  he  feels  and  what 
he  thinks.  There  are  few  disproportions  between 
his  teachings  and  his  conduct.  He  is  extreme- 
ly sensitive  to  inconsistencies.  That  word  "in- 
consistent" often  falls  from  his  lips.  Incon- 
sistencies annoy  him  and  make  him  impatient. 
He  is  quick  to  detect  them  in  others  and  is  al- 
ways on  his  guard  against  them  in  himself. 
His  admonitions  are  therefore  always  timely. 
What  he  says  is  taken  seriously,  and  the  truth 
of  his  words  are  confirmed  as  much  in  the  feel- 
ings as  in  the  minds  of  those  who  hear  him. 
His  unquestioned  sincerity  and  simple  honesty 
cause  him  to  speak  as  one  having  authority, 
though  the  authority  with  which  he  is  clothed 
is  never  conspicuous.  He  is  more  timid  in  the 
exercise  of  his  authority  than  are  those  over 
whom  it  is  exercised.  No  man  or  woman  has 
ever  feared  his  authority.  People  have  loved 
it  and  magnified  its  importance  a  hundredfold 
more  than  he  has.     He  dreaded  its  exercise, 


142  JAMES  JENSEN 

if  by  its  exercise  it  was  to  reprove,  or  reproach. 

He  has  never  gone  about  conscious  that  he 
was  Bishop  of  the  ward.  He  has  had  to  be 
reminded  by  some  pubHc  manifestations  of 
loyalty.  The  people  have  not  let  him  forget 
that  he  is  their  Bishop,  and  himce  the  frequent 
surprises  and  repeated  evidences  of  their  es- 
teem. His  native  simplicity  and  untiring  ser- 
vice have  exalted  the  office  he  holds  in  the  es- 
timation of  the  people  of  Forest  Dale.  They 
have  made  it  by  their  loyalty  and  devotion  a 
great  honor  to  be  a  bishop,  especially  their 
Bishop.  But  if  they  were  jealous  of  the  dignity 
of  the  office  which  he  held,  and  exalted  his  au- 
thority, they  have  never  thought  of  wresting 
any  exercise  of  it  from  him.  He  knows  well 
his  responsibility  and  has  never  surrendered  it. 
He  keeps  his  hand  firmly  on  the  helm,  as 
though  he  were  a  pilot  sensible  of  his  obligation 
to  keep  the  ship  of  church  in  safe  course  and 
in  the  right  direction.  The  simplicity  of  his 
conduct  makes  one  think  that  it  is  the  simplest 
thing  in  the  world  to  be  wise.  If  wisdom  is  a 
simple  thing,  it  does  not  follow  that  all  simple 
things  are  wisdom. 

Saying  that  Bishop  Jensen  is  not  given  to 


CHARACTER  SKETCH.  143 

analysis  does  not  say  that  he  lacks  the  powers 
of  discrimination.  He  is  quick  to  classify 
men  and  events.  He  works  thoughtfully  at 
the  problems  he  has  to  solve  in  dealing  with 
the  affairs  of  his  ward.  ''It  will  have  to  work 
itself  out/'  he  is  wont  to  say.  He  well  under- 
stands that  there  are  some  problems  that  only 
time  and  patience  can  solve.  He  is  not 
therefore  a  "meddler"  whose  interference  rath- 
er hinders  than  helps.  He  has  patience  to 
await  the  results  of  time,  and  the  good  sense 
to  profit  by  his  observations,  and  in  turn  make 
them  helpful  to  others. 

His  sense  of  the  peculiar  fitness  of  things 
is  clear.  To  him  there  is  a  proper  time  and  a 
proper  place  for  both  words  and  conduct.  "It 
didn't  strike  me  just  right,"  he  would  say  of 
some  illy  timed  remark.  His  spirit  is  attuned 
to  the  harmonies  of  time  and  place,  and  he  suf- 
fers when  there  is  a  discord  in  his  surround- 
ings. Many  a  man  and  woman  will  remember 
his  nervous,  restless  shrugs  and  unhappy  facial 
expressions  as  he  listened  on  the  stand  to  some 
extravagant  expressions,  or  to  some  illogical 
or  inconsistent  statement.  He  has  a  fine  sense 
of  appreciation  for  the  humorous  when  the  oc- 


144  JAMES  JENSEN 

casion  is  fitting,  but  he  never  enjoys  incon- 
gruous joking  from  the  pulpit  during  the  hours 
of  worship.  How  often  a  painful  expression 
has  stolen  over  his  face  as  he  has  listened  to 
some  foohsh  witticism.  His  face  is  generally 
a  good  index  for  the  guidance  of  the  audience 
in  the  matter  of  questionable  utterances.  With 
him,  worship  is  an  act  of  the  greatest  solemn- 
ity, and  he  is  greatly  disturbed  by  any  discord- 
ant notes.  ''I  don't  like  it,  but  what  shall  I 
say."  That  he  did  not  like  it  was  enough  for 
those  who  could  understand.  There  are  prac- 
tical jokers,  perhaps,  in  every  ward.  There 
have  been  such  in  his,  but  they  have  been  re- 
strained. "It  takes  time,  and  I  prefer  that  they 
themselves  see  how  wrong  and  foolish  it  is  to 
desecrate  the  Sabbath  by  such  inappropriate 
remarks,''  he  would  say  when  others  grew 
critically  impatient. 

Bishop  Jensen  is  not  a  preacher,  but  his 
speaking  is  always  enjoyed.  It  is  to  the 
point  and  comes  from  the  heart.  He  is  not 
so  much  concerned  about  teaching  things  that 
are  new  and  refreshing  as  he  is  about  peo- 
ple living  up  to  the  knowledge  they  alread)^ 
have.    ''What "are  we  doing  as  individuals  and 


CHARACTER  SKETCH.  145 

as  a  ward?"  is  a  question  he  frequently  puts 
to  the  people.  ''Let  us  stop  and  reflect,"  and 
he  persuaded  people  to  stop  and  reflect — a  most 
excellent  practice.  When  he  said  "don't''  it 
was  a  heart-felt  desire  which  all  understood.  It 
is  his  presence  in  the  meetings  and  his  well 
known  wishes  that  govern  the  character  of 
the  worship  of  his  ward  more  than  anything  he 
says.  When  for  any  reason  he  is  absent,  he  is 
greatly  missed. 

He  always  comes  to  his  meetings  ready — 
ready  to  worship;  His  mind  is  on  it,  and 
there  is  a  prayerful  desire  that  actuates  him 
in  all  his  movements  and  directions.  His  mind 
is  not  wandering,  his  interests  are  not  di- 
vided, and  his  devotions  are  not  dissipated  by 
things  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  worship.  He 
is  thinking  of  God,  and  wants  every  one  else 
to  think  of  Him.  People  quickly  learned  to 
follow  him  in  public  worship.  They  under- 
stood his  spirit  and  liked  it.  That  has  made 
the  meetings  of  Forest  Dale  interesting,  even 
when  some  or  much  of  the  talking  was  dry. 

He  also  has  a  high  sense  of  the  dignity  of 
worship.  There  is  order  in  all  that  is  done. 
The  deacons  are  trained  for- the  service  of  the 

U 


146  JAMES  JENSEN 

sacrament.  It  is  a  pleasing  picture.  The 
priests,  too,  act  with  promptness  and  in  the 
spirit  of  their  calling.  It  is  remarkable  how 
well  these  young  boys  respond  to  the  wishes 
and  instructions  of  their  Bishop  who  does  not 
allow  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  to  sink  to 
the  level  of  a  commonplace  duty.  He  takes 
a  special  pride  in  worship  and  gives  a  dignity 
to  it  which  all  enjoy. 

A  Bishop  with  such  a  reverend  regard  for 
his  Maker  could  not  well  neglect  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  His  children.  He  imparts 
feelings  of  dignity  to  every  member  of  the 
ward  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact.  His 
greetings  are  always  cordial,  and  his  interest 
in  every  member  of  the  ward  is  so  genuine  that 
his  presence  makes  people  turn  their  thoughts 
upon  themselves  rather  than  upon  him.  He  is 
a  man  who  invites  confidence,  and  secrets  are 
carefully  guarded.  His  sympathetic  nature 
attracts  people  to  him  for  comfort  and  consola- 
tion. Who  that  has  known  him  does  not  re- 
member the  earnest  tone  of  his  voice  when  he 
has  responded  to  the  needs  of  those  seeking 
counsel  or  consolation.  He  is  a  man  of  an 
affectionate  nature — a  nature  enjoyed  by  every 


CHARACTER  SKETCH.  147 

living  soul  that  comes  within  its  influence.  His 
love  is  of  that  lofty  character  that  has  drawn  all 
people  to  him,  young  and  old,  male  and  female 
alike.  It  is  an  impartial  love  which  all  may 
partake  of  freely.  There  are  no  favored  few, 
no  inner  circle.  He  is  everybodys'  Bishop,  be- 
cause he  loves  everybody.  Nor  is  his  love 
measured  by  any  special  standard  of  worthi- 
ness. He  loves  because  he  enjoys  loving,  and 
because  he  wants  to  do  good.  If  it  fails  to  re- 
ceive a  response,  it  is  not  his  fault  for  it  is  given 
freely. 

What  the  people  have  thought  of  him  is  best 
told  in  the  testimonials  which  it  was  their 
pleasure  to  give  and  his  gratitude  to  receive. 
They  are  a  part  of  the  record  of  this  biography. 
They  do  not,  however,  tell  it  all.  They  are  as- 
surances and  appreciations.  They  are  not  pri- 
vate opinions  and  do  not  express  that  close 
personal  relation  that  a  few  members  of  the 
ward  have  enjoyed  with  him  individually.  The 
people  have  known  that  he  not  only  has  the 
desire  to  be  just,  but  he  has  the  ability  to  be  so. 
His  nature  is  strong  as  well  as  loving.  He  has 
not  been  misled  by  shams,  and  therefore  the 
people  have  trusted  his  judgment  and  felt  the 


148  JAMES  JENSEN 

wisdom  of  the  justice  which  he  administered. 
He  is  not  easily  shaken,  nor  does  he  lose  his 
moorings. 

He  has  also  been  generous  in  his  instincts, 
and  made  due  allowance  for  every  phase  of 
human  nature.  His  expectations  have  not  been 
so  high  respecting  human  nature  that  he  has 
been  disappointed  in  the  discovery  of  men's 
weaknesses.  Men  have  trusted  to  him  their 
faults  as  they  have  their  virtues.  His  charity 
has  been  broad  enough  to  cover  the  former  as 
his  appreciation  has  been  full  enough  to  value 
the  later.  He  has  a  standard  of  his  own.  He 
might  modify  it,  but  he  would  not  surrender 
it.  It  has  always  been  as  good  as  the  facts 
justified,  and  new  facts  he  has  been  willing  to 
accept  and  has  given  to  them  their  proper  bear- 
ing in  the  formation  of  his  judgment. 

James  Jensen  is  a  good  judge  of  human  na- 
ture. He  does  not  hesitate  to  criticise  when- 
ever he  feels  it  his  duty  to  do  so,  but  he  is  gen- 
erally sure  of  his  ground.  His  criticisms,  how- 
ever, have  never  degenerated  into  a  prejudice 
from  which  he  could  not  divest  himself.  His 
words  of  reproof  were  sent  forth  on  a  mission 
for  good  as  well  as  his  words  of  confidence 


CHARACTER  SKETCH.  149 

and  love.  If  they  did  not  accomplish  good,  he 
saw  to  it  that  they  did  no  evil.  It  would  be 
hard  to  say  just  why  Bishop  Jensen  is  so.  His 
is  a  spirit  whose  powers  and  possibilities  were 
never  well  known  till  the  hour  of  his  public 
responsibility  came.  He  might  have  taken 
these  qualities  of  head  and  heart  to  the  grave, 
unknown,  but  they  are  his  and  they  are  a  rich 
inheritance  for  his  eternal  good,  whether  in 
this  world  or  in  the  world  to  come.  The  grave 
is  not  the  judgment  scene.  It  lies  away  be- 
yond. It  is  hard  to  believe  that  this  Hfe  has 
seen  the  full  possibilities  of  Bishop  Jensen's 
spirit.  May  it  grow  through  all  eternity,  and 
may  he  hereafter  be  all  that  God  made  it  pos- 
sible for  him  to  be ! 


150  JAMES  JENSEN 


APPENDIX  A. 


To  Bishop  James  Jensen,  from  the  Saints 
OF  Forest  Dale  Ward,  September,  1897. 


A  small  collection  of  sentiments  of  welcome 
and  confidence,  tendered  Bishop  Jensen  on  the 
occasion  of  the  gathering  in  the  "Old  Farm 
House,''  Forest  Dale  Ward,  September  8,  1897, 
in  which  all  the  members  of  the  ward  joined, 
honoring  their  greatly  beloved  Bishop. 

Bishop  James  Jensen: 

We,  your  brethren  in  the  Bishopric,  in  be- 
half of  ourselves  and  the  teachers  of  Forest 
Dale  Ward,  desire  to  express  our  love  and  es- 
teem for  you  as  a  brother  and  a  servant  of  God. 
In  the  discharge  of  your  duties  as  the  Bishop 
o£  this  ward  we  pledge  you  our  services  in 
holding  up  your  hands,  and  in  sustaining  you. 
Praying  the  blessings  of  God  upon  you  and 
yours,  we  subscribe  ourselves, 
Your  brethren, 

Royal  B.  Young, 
James  Hendry, 


APPENDIX  A.  151 


THE  RELIEF  SOCIETY. 


Bishop  James  Jensen: 

We  have  met  this  evening  as  children  of  one 
family  to  pay  honor  to  you,  the  Father  of  our 
Ward,  and  in  doing  so  we  wish  to  show  the 
love  we  have  for  you,  and  to  acknowledge  the 
kind  advice  and  counsel  you  have  ever  been 
ready  to  give. 

It  is  our  desire  as  a  Society  to  be  ready  and 
on  hand  at  all  times  to  assist  in  any  way  that 
we  may  be  called,  both  in  visiting  the  sick  and 
relieving  the  wants  of  the  needy.  We  have 
always  felt  that  we  have  been  heartily  sus- 
tained by  you  in  whatever  we  have  undertaken ; 
we  hope  that  in  the  future  we  may  be  able  to 
merit  your  approbation;  that  our  acts  and 
movements  may  be  in  accord  with  your  feel- 
ings. 

We  as  a  Society  do  not  wish  to  be  judged 
by  any  great  outward  demonstration,  but  wish 
to  show  our  love  for  you  by  being  ready  to 
carry  out  your  instructions  at  all  times ;  and  we 
wish  to  say  that  by  your  noble  example,  your 
wise  counsel,  and  kind  and  loving  ways,  you 
have  won  a  lasting  regard  in  our  memories ; 


152  JAMES  JENSEN. 

and  we  wish  you  to  know  that  you  are  heartily 
sustained  in  the  position  you  occupy  by  the 
members  of  the  Relief  Society  of  Forest  Dale 
Ward;  and  we  consider  you  the  right  man  in 
the  right  place. 

Cornelia  T.  Driggs, 
L.  Y.  Stevenson, 
Addie  M.  Cannon. 

the  sunday  school. 

Kind  and  Loving  Bishop: 

How  gladly  we  embrace  this  opportunity  of 
joining  with  the  rest  of  your  flock  in  saying 
those  dear  old  words — "Dear  Bishop,  we  love 
thee !" 

Each  Sabbath  morning,  when  the  lambs  of 
our  precious  fold  have  been  gathered,  and,  in 
our  song  the  angels  of  God  have  mingled  their 
voices,  our  hearts  have  been  filled  with  joy  and 
gratitude  in  having  your  faithful  presence 
among  the  many  kind  teachers  and  associates. 

Our  success  as  a  Sabbath  School,  we  at- 
tribute chiefly  to  you  and  your  noble  staff. 

In  silence  we  have  awaited  an  opportunity 
when  we  could,  in  our  modest  way,  show  to 
you  that  your  noble  efforts  are  daily  being 


APPENDIX  A.  153 

rewarded.  But,  like  the  tree  to  the  faithful 
gardener,  though  faithful  care  and  devotion 
may  continue  unceasingly  with  results  hardly 
noticeable,  yet  the  time  does  come  when,  as  with 
outstretched  arms,  laden  with  precious  fruit,  it 
yearns  to  repay,  and  places  at  his  disposal  that 
by  which  it  shall  ever  after  be  known.  So, 
with  us,  loving  Bishop,  as  the  one  small  tree  in 
your  well  cultivated  garden,  may  we  bring 
forth  fruit  upon  which  you  can  gaze  with  joy, 
and  by  which  you  may  know  us  forever. 

God  bless  thee  Bishop — 

May  long  life,  joy,  and  power  with  wisdom  untold 
Be  granted  unto  thee  in  leading  thy  fold; 
As  thy  children,  united  at  thy  side  we  shall  stand, 
And  to  none  art  thou  dearer  than  the  Sunday  School 
band. 

Wm.  L.  Hansen, 
John  M.  Cannon, 
B.  W.  Aston. 

Dear  Bishop  Jensen: 

As  the  kind  words  you  give  and  your  labors  of  love, 

Are  recorded  in  heaven  by  angels  above, 

May  your  presence  in  school  always  bring  its  good 

cheer. 
And  your  timely  advice  make  your  friendship  more 

dear. 


154  JAMES  JENSEN. 

May  each  smiling  face  as  it  catches  your  gaze 
Remember  the  cause  of  this  gathering  to-night ; 
And  may  each  add  his  might  to  build  up  the  "Dale," 
That  love  may  abound  and  friendship  prevail. 

As  you  gaze  down  our  streets  at  the  close  of  each  day 
When  time  plants  his  footsteps  in  colors  of  gray, 
May  each  smiling  face  shine  as  it  catches  your  gaze 
With  gratitude  shine  and  your  faithfulness  praise. 

And  may  our  little  homes  where  each  one  may  dwell 
Partake  of  the  spirit  that  you  love  so  well, 
And  wherever  your  lot  with  the  Saints  may  be  cast, 
Your  place  in  our  hearts  will  remain  to  the  last ; 
The  sick  and  the  poor  their  prayers  will  bespeak 
And  our  Sunday  School  children  will  bless  you  each 
week. 

B.  W.  ASHTON. 
For  the  ''Dale"  Sunday  School. 

THE  SEVENTIES. 

Brethren  and  Sisters: 

I  now  represent  the  Seventies  and  Elders 
residing  in  Forest  Dale  Ward.  There  are  not 
full  quorums  of  either  of  these  organizations 
residing  in  the  ward,  but  for  the  individual 
members  of  these  quorums  whom  Bishop  Jen- 
sen has  among  his  flock,  I  can  say  that  there  is 
no  sentiment  of  love,  affection  or  devotion  ut- 


APPENDIX  A.  155 

tered  by  those  who  have  preceded  me  this  night 
but  what  the  Seventies  and  Elders  can  heartily 
endorse  and  say,  amen,  to. 

I  say  to  Bishop  Jensen  in  behalf  of  the  Sev- 
enties and  Elders  of  this  ward,  God  bless  you, 
and  peace  be  with  you.  When  you  need  our 
help  and  assistance  call  on  us  and  we  will  do 
all  in  our  power  to  uphold  your  hands  by  our 
works,  faith  and  prayers.  Long  may  you  live 
to  be  a  Bishop  and  Father  to  us  all,  is  our 
prayer,  amen. 

j.  w.  summerhays. 

deacons'  quorum. 

Bishop  James  Jensen: 

Dear  Brother: — We,  the  Deacons  of  the 
Forest  Dale  Ward,  feel  it  our  duty,  on  this 
grand  occasion,  to  express  our  thanks  and 
gratitude  to  you  for  the  good  you  have  done 
us  in  the  way  of  instruction  and  encourage- 
ment, enabling  us  to  walk  uprightly  before  our 
Heavenly  Father. 

We  realize  that  we  are  but  mortal  beings  and 
have  many  weaknesses  tO'  overcome,  therefore 
we  feel  to  thank  you  for  your  fatherly  ad- 
vice and  counsel. 


156  JAMES  JENSEN. 

We  realize  that  we  might  have  performed 
our  labors  in  a  more  satisfactory  manner,  but 
remember,  Bishop,  we  are  only  boys  with  but 
little  experience ;  bear  with  us  in  the  future  as 
you  have  done  in  the  past,  and  we  will  do  all 
in  our  power  to  uphold  and  sustain  you. 

Ever  praying  God's  blessings  to  be  with  you, 
we  remain, 

Your  brethren  in  the  Gospel, 

Louis  W.  Sims, 
Wm.  Jensen, 
David  C.  Ure. 

Y.  M.   M.  I.  A. 

Be  It  Resolved: 

First.  That  we,  the  members  of  the  Mutual 
Improvement  Association  of  the  Forest  Dale 
Ward,  hereby  tender  to  Bishop  Jensen  our 
heartfelt  respect  and  perfect  confidence  in  him 
as  Bishop  and  father  of  his  ward.  We  admire 
his  simplicity  of  character,  his  gentlemanly  de- 
meanor, his  kindly  attitude,  and  his  remem- 
brance of  the  fatherless,  and  his  never  ceasing 
attention  to  the  poor  under  his  jurisdiction.  As 
a  Latter-day  Saint,  as  a  citizen,  and  as  a  man 


APPENDIX  A.  157 

he  has  the  unbounded  confidence  of  this  associ- 
ation, and  we  may  say  so  of  the  members  of  his 
whole  ward. 

We  take  pleasure  in  tendering  the  Bishop 
9ur  kindest  regards,  respect,  and  attention,  and 
in  wishing  a  long  and  continued  prosperity  for 
his  family. 

Second.  And  be  it  further  resolved  that  we 
congratulate  Bishop  Jensen  and  the  people  of 
this  ward  upon  his  appointment  to  the  posi- 
tion which  he  now  holds ;  and  while  we  would 
not  say  that  no  other  person  could  have  been 
selected  that  could  do  so  well,  we  can  say 
truthfully  that  no  other  could  have  been  se- 
lected who  could  do  better. 

Third.     And  be  it  further  resolved,  that  it 
is  the  heartfelt  desire  of  the  whole  society,  and 
we  will  add  the  entire  ward  over  which  he 
presides,  that  he  may  live  long  and  continue 
in  the  position  he  now  holds,  and  may  his  days 
grow  brighter  and  his  years  more  joyful  as 
time  rolls  on;  that  at  all  times  he  may  have 
the  same  confidence  in  us  that  we  have  in  him. 
Robert  A.  Ure, 
Arthur  R.  Castleton, 
Edwin  Wright. 


158  JAMES  JENSEN. 

Y.  L.   M.   I.  A. 

Bishop  James  Jensen: 

Dear  Brother : — We  realize  tliat  the  greatest 
tribute  a  man  usually  receives  is  after  he  is 
dead;  that  his  labors  are  not  appreciated  until 
he  has  gone.  It  is  then  that  words  of  great- 
est praise  and  appreciation  are  poured  forth 
for  the  departed  one.  But  can  dead  ears  hear, 
or  dead  hearts  feel  the  warmth  of  gratitude 
and  affection?  Many  times  friends  regret, 
when  it  is  too  late,  that  they  have  not  encour- 
aged by  kind  words  and  acts  the  labors  of  an 
associate.  Why  not  scatter  these  flowers  of 
kindness  and  affection  in  the  paths  of  our 
friends  while  they  live  and  can  enjoy  their 
beauty  and  fragrance  and  be  encouraged  and 
refreshed  in  the  journey  of  Hfe? 

That  we  may  not  have  these  regrets  re- 
ferred to,  in  your  case,  and  that  you  may  have 
the  benefit  of  the  high  regard  in  which  you  are 
held  by  us,  we  write  this  Httle  missive.  Not 
that  we  expect  you  to  die  soon,  but  that  it 
may  be  a  source  of  a  little  encouragement  to 
you,  in  the  beginning  of  your  labors  in  this 
ward. 


APPENDIX  A.  159 

In  you,  Bishop  Jensen,  the  writer  is  often  re- 
minded of  the  village  preacher  described  by 
Oliver   Goldsmith : — 

"Thus  to  relieve  the  wretched  was  his  pride, 

And  e'en  his  failings  leaned  to  Virtue's  side ; 

But,  in  his  duty  prompt  at  every  call, 

He  watched  and  wept,  he  prayed  and  felt  for  all; 

And,  as  a  bird  each  fond  endearment  tries 

To  tempt  its  new-fledged  offspring  to  the  skies. 

He  tried  each  art,  reproved  each  dull  delay. 

Allured  to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the  way. 

At  church,  with  meek  and  unaffected  grace, 
His  looks  adorned  the  venerable  place. 
Truth  from  his  lips  prevailed  with  double  sway 
And  fools  who  came  to  scoff  remained  to  pray." 

We  feel  that  you  have  indeed  been  father  of 
the  ward;  that  you  are  deeply  interested  in 
every  member  of  your  family.  We  are  proud 
to  be  numbered  among  your  little  flock,  fe^l 
to  thank  God  for  having  given  us  such  a  guar- 
dian, and  will  ever  support  you  by  our  faith 
and  prayers.  We  realize  to  some  extent  that 
your  labors  are  arduous,  but  He  who  has  said 
"Feed  my  sheep"  will  reward  the  good  shep- 
herd of  one  of  His  flocks. 


160  JAMES  JENSEN. 

We,  as  the  young  ladies  of  the  ward,  feel 
to  thank  you  especially  for  the  kind  interest 
you  have  taken  in  our  association.  We  always 
feel  encouraged  by  your  presence  and  advice. 
As  you  have  been  a  kind  and  indulgent  father, 
we  hope  to  be  dutiful  daughters  and  never  do 
anything  unworthy  of  our  parentage.  We  are 
ready  and  anxious  at  any  time  to  do  anything 
we  can  to  assist  you.  Though  these  words 
are  but  few  and  feeble,  please  accept  them  as 
most  sincere. 

ZiNA  B.  Cannon, 
Sarah  B.  Summerhays. 
Josephine  Jensen. 

primary  association. 

Our  Bishop,  the  Father  of  our  Ward: 
Many  happy  returns  of  the  evening. 

We  are  the  Primary,  young  and  growing; 
we  shall  be  a  help  to  you  bye  and  bye. 

Who  is  the  father  of  our  country? — George 
Washington. 

Who  is  the  father  of  our  ward? — Bishop 
Jensen. 


APPENDIX  A.  161 

Kindness  begets  kindness.  Love  begets  love ; 
that  is  why  we  love  our  Bishop. 

We  want  to  see  you  look  pleased  and  happy, 
so  we  will  try  and  brush  all  sorrow  and  care 
away  by  Hving  at  peace  with  one  another. 

God  bless  our  Bishop  with  health,  and  may 
he  live  till  he  realizes  every  righteous  desire 
of  his  heart,  and  be  satisfied  with  life,  and  may 
we  renew  your  acquaintance  in  the  great  here- 
after is  the  fervent  desire  of  the  Forest  Dale 
Primary. 

Jennie  H.  Young, 
L.  Y.  Stevenson, 
Maggie  Timpson. 


12 


162  JAMES  JENSEN. 


APPENDIX  B. 


Dedicatory  Prayer  of  the  Forest  Dale 

Meeting  House,  Offered  by 

President  Jos.  F.  Smith, 

July  23,  1905. 


Remarks  of  President  Jos.  F.  Smith,  prior  to 
offering  the  Dedicatory  Prayer  of  the  For- 
est  Dale  Meeting  House. 

I  would  like  to  say  to  my  brothers  and  sis- 
ters and  the  congregation  generally,  that  I  de- 
sire, in  offering  prayer,  to  offer  the  desires  of 
the  congregation,  the  desires  of  your  hearts,  all 
who  are  present.  It  is  not  I  who  can  give  unto 
the  Lord  this  building.  I  have  contributed  but 
a  very  very  little  towards  it.  I  am  thankful 
that  I  am  able  to  say  I  passed  in  my  little  mite, 
but  you  who  are  assembled  here  this  evening 
have  contributed  of  your  substance,  many  of 
you  very  liberally  according  to  your  means,  in 
order  that  this  beautiful  building  might  be  erect- 
ed for  the  worship  of  the  Lord ;  and  it  will  be 


APPENDIX  B.  163 

you  who  will  give  unto  the  Lord  the  right  and 
the  title  and  the  claim  that  should  rightful- 
ly belong  to  Him,  as  a  place  built  for  the  pur- 
pose of  His  worship,  to  be  dedicated  unto  His 
name,  and  to  be  held  as  a  sacred  place,  a  sanc- 
tuary in  which  the  Saints  of  God  may  meet 
together  for  His  worship,  for  prayer,  for  sing- 
ing and  praise,  for  bearing  testimony  of  the 
Truth;  and  I  would  Hke,  therefore,  that  my 
brothers  and  sisters  and  all  my  friends  who  are 
here  join  with  me  in  spirit  and  in  heart,  in  of- 
fering this  structure  unto  the  Lord.  I  would 
not  like  to  feel  that  I  was  alone  in  officiating 
in  this  sacred  matter,  but  I  want  to  feel  that 
I  am  being  sustained  and  upheld  in  this  ser- 
vice by  all  who  are  present. 
Now  let  us  unite  in  prayer. 

Dedicatory  Prayer. 

Our  Father,  who  art  in  Heaven.  Hallowed 
be  Thy  name.  We,  Thy  children,  have  as- 
sembled here  this  evening  for  the  purpose 
among  other  things,  of  making  an  offering  un- 
to Thee,  an  offering  of  this  building,  which 
with  the  means  that  Thou  hast  given  unto  Thy 


164  JAMES  JENSEN. 

people,  they  have  built  as  a  sacred  and  holy 
place,  where  the  presence  of  angels  may  be 
felt,  where  the  power,  the  presence,  and  the 
influence  of  Thy  Holy  Spirit  may  pervade  the 
hearts  of  those  assembled  here  from  time  to 
time;  where  holy  thoughts  may  enter  into  the 
hearts  of  Thy  children ;  where  purity  of  heart 
may  engender  everlasting  light  into  the  souls 
of  those  who  are  seeking;  where  sin  may  be 
reproved  and  rebuked  and  removed  far  away, 
not  only  from  this  building  but  from  those 
who  shall  assemble  here  from  time  to  time.  We 
ask  Thee,  Holy  Father,  that  Thou  wilt  sanctify 
and  bless  this  offering  and  this  assembly.  Bless 
the  exercises  that  have  already  been  performed 
by  those  who  have  spoken  and  by  those  who 
have  sung  and  by  those  who  have  expressed 
sentiments  of  worth  and  of  inspiration  for  the 
reflection  and  instruction  and  edification  of 
those  who  have  come  here.  Wilt  Thou  bless 
all  these  things  and  sanctify  them  to  the  good 
of  all  who  participate  here  tonight;  but  espe- 
cially, we  pray.  Thee,  Holy  Father,  that  Thou 
wilt  abundantly  bless  every  soul,  man,  woman, 
and  child,  who  has  contributed  of  his  or  her 
substance  towards  the  building  of  this  house. 


APPENDIX  B.  165 

Let  Thy  Holy  Spirit  rest  in  their  hearts,  and 
wilt  Thou  verify  unto  them  the  promises  that 
have  been  made  unto  them.  Wilt  Thou  verify 
the  words  that  have  been  spoken  here  this 
evening  with  reference  to  their  having  gained 
rather  than  having  lost  anything  for  having 
contributed  of  their  substance  for  the  erection 
of  this  beautiful  place.  Wilt  Thou,  O  Father, 
multiply  their  substance,  and  especially  those 
who  have  given  liberally  of  their  means  to  the 
erection  of  this  building.  Bless,  we  pray  Thee, 
every  person  who  has  contributed;  bless  the 
poor  who  have  contributed  of  their  substance, 
the  widows,  the  fatherless,  and  every  man 
woman  and  child,  who  has  assisted  in  this 
work;  bless  them  all  according  to  the  desires 
of  their  hearts  in  righteousness  before  Thee; 
and  wilt  Thou  multiply  their  substance  and 
make  them  feel  enriched  and  increased  in  bless- 
ings, because  of  the  efforts  they  have  put  forth 
to  this  end;  for  Thou  wilt  realize,  Heaverily 
Father,  that  the  desire,  the  object,  and  the  pur- 
pose of  their  hearts  have  been  to  sanctify  the 
Lord  God  in  their  hearts,  to  build  a  place  in 
which  He  may  dwell,  a  place  that  may  be  His 
sanctuary,  a  place  that  is  holy  and  pure    a 


166  JAMES  JENSEN. 

place,  in  which  all  its  bearings  and  all  its  ef- 
fects and  influence,  will  exalt  the  mind,  will 
enlarge  the  understanding,  increase  faith  in 
the  heart  and  in  the  soul  of  the  children  of 
men,  and  lead  them  back  into  the  presence  of 
God,  from  whence  they  have  come. 

Now,  Holy  Father,  this  being  the  object  we 
have  in  view,  we  ask  Thee  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  Thy  Beloved  Son,  that  Thou  wilt 
shield  this  house  from  every  harm.  May  no 
evil  come  to  it.  May  no  disaster  overtake  it. 
May  no  storms  prevail  against  it,  but  may  it 
be  protected  from  every  influence  of  a  de- 
structive nature.  May  it  not  be  shaken  by 
earthquakes  or  upheavels  or  any  unusual  things 
that  may  occur  in  the  latter  times,  but  may  it 
stand  firm  and  steadfast  upon  its  foundation. 
May  it  continue  to  abide  and  endure  for  the 
purpose  for  which  it  is  built  and  for  which 
we  offer  it  unto  Thee,  the  Lord  our  God.  We 
ask  Thee,  Heavenly  Father,  to  forbid  and  not 
permit  any  foul  spirit  to  enter  into  this  house. 
May  no  spirit  of  contention,  of  dissension,  of 
infidelity  or  unbelief,  have  a  place  here,  but 
may  that  spirit  pervade  the  assemblies,  which 
shall  lead  Thy  people  nearer  unto  Thee,  the 


APPENDIX  B.  167 

Lord.  May  that  spirit  ever  be  present  which 
will  enlighten  their  minds,  enlarge  their  un- 
derstanding, and  make  them  know  and  re- 
aHze  that  they  are  indeed  the  children  of  God, 
who  made  the  Heavens  and  the  Earth  and 
who  holds  all  things  in  His  mighty  hand. 

Now,  Holy  Father,  we  ask  Thee  to  bless 
the  upper  part  of  this  building  for  the  use  of 
Thy  people  as  a  place  for  worship,  that  it  may 
be  held  sacred  for  that  purpose,  that  those  who 
come  here  may  feel  that  when  they  come  into 
this  place  that  they  come  into  the  presence  of 
the  Lord,  that  His  all-seeing  eye  is  upon  them, 
that  His  ear  can  hear  their  very  sighs,  and 
the  earnest  desires  of  their  hearts  will  not  be 
hid  or  kept  from  Thine  omnipotence.  We  ask 
Thee,  Holy  Father,  to  grant  this  unto  Thy 
people  and  unto  Thy  servants,  especially  those 
who  have  taken  an  active  part  in  the  construc- 
tion of  this  house.  Bless  the  Bishop  and  his 
counselors,  and  grant.  Heavenly  Father,  that 
they  may  feel  doubly  rewarded  for  the  toil  they 
have  been  subjected  to,  for  the  anxiety  they 
have  felt,  and  for  the  sacrifices  they  have  made 
in  the  interest  of  Thy  people  and  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  ward  where  they  reside.    Bless  their 


168  JAMES  JENSEN. 

assistants ;  bless  the  committees  that  have  been 
appointed  to  collect  means;  bless  the  architect 
and  those  who  have  aided  in  any  way  in  the 
construction  of  this  building.  Bless  them  all 
for  the  labors  they  have  performed,  to  their 
unspeakable  happiness,  that  they  may  feel  re- 
warded in  their  souls  for  having  done  good, 
for  it  is  doing  good  to  seek  to  honor  the  Lord 
and  to  make  a  place  where  His  name  can  be 
held  in  reverence  and  in  sacredness  in  the  heart 
of  the  children  of  men. 

Now,  Holy  Father,  we  dedicate  unto  Thee 
the  grounds  upon  which  this  building  stands, 
every  part  thereof.  Wilt  Thou  remove  the 
curse  therefrom  and  make  it  holy.  Bless  those 
parts  which  may  be  adorned  with  trees,  shrub- 
bery, and  flowers;  may  they  yield  abundantly 
for  the  enjoyment  of  Thy  people.  Bless  the 
'walls  of  this  building,  that  they  may  be  firm 
and  steadfast.  Bless  the  roof  and  all  the  ap- 
purtenances belonging  unto  it. 

Without  entering  into  details.  Father,  Thou 
knowest  all  things,  and  Thou  knowest  that 
which  we  desire  without  even  our  speaking  of 
it,  yet  Thou  hast  made  it  our  duty  to  call  up- 
on Thy  name  and  make  offerings  of  sacrifice 


APPENDIX  B.  169 

unto  Thee.  We  ask  Thee,  also,  Heavenly 
Father,  to  bless  the  basement,  that  has  been 
dedicated  and  set  apart  for  social  enjoyment, 
for  singing,  for  music,  for  dances;  wilt  Thou 
bless  it  for  this  purpose  and  sanctify  it  to  this 
end.  Grant  that  no  evil  may  come  there,  but 
that  a  spirit  of  peace,  true  enjoyment,  and 
true  happiness,  may  ever  be  present  on  all  oc- 
casions, that  all  who  shall  gather  for  amuse- 
ment and  innocent  enjoyment  may  feel  its  in- 
fluence. 

Now,  Holy  Father,  we  ask  Thee  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  Thy  Son,  who  dwelt  in  the 
midst  of  men,  who  had  no  home,  who  had  no 
where  to  lay  His  head,  but  who  wandered 
among  those  who  would  receive  Him  into 
their  homes  and  administered  unto  them  life 
and  salvation;  in  His  name,  Holy  Father,  we 
make  offering  unto  Thee  of  this  whole  build- 
ing, from  its  foundation  to  the  top  thereof,  and 
everything  connected  therewith,  and  we  pray 
Thee,  our  Heavenly  Father,  to  accept  this  of- 
fering unto  Thee  of  this  whole  building,  from 
its  foundation  to  the  top  thereof,  and  every- 
thing connected  therewith,  and  we  pray  Thee, 
our  Heavenly  Father,  to  accept  this  offering, 


170  JAMES  JENSEN. 

that  Thy  name  may  be  placed  upon  these 
things  in  righteousness,  and  that  we,  Thy  chil- 
dren, may  maintain  this  building  sacredly  as  a 
house  of  worship  and  as  a  place  of  innocent 
amusement  and  enjoyment,  where  we  may 
know  each  other,  and  understand  each  other, 
and  have  fellowship  with  one  another;  a  place 
where  we  may  worship  the  Lord  in  union  and 
love,  and  come  to  a  unity  of  the  faith.  We 
pray  Thee  to  bless-  those  who  shall  speak  here 
from  time  to  time.  Fill  them  with  the  revela- 
tion of  Thy  will.  Grant,  Heavenly  Father, 
that  no  man,  no  elder  of  Thy  Church,  no  ser- 
vant of  the  Lord,  may  ever  arise  here  and  pro- 
nounce false  doctrine  or  speak  things  that  are 
not  good  in  Thy  sight;  but  may  Thy  servants 
be  inspired  to  speak  true  words  of  encourage- 
ment, instruction,  and  admonition,  if  neces- 
sary, that  will  result  in  good  to  Thy  people. 

All  these  blessings  and  favors  we  humbly 
ask,  and  we  make  this  offering  unto  Thee,  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Redeemer,  Amen. 


APPENDIX  C  171 


APPENDIX  C 


Sentiments  to  Bishop  James  Jensen,  from 
THE  Forest  Dale  Ward  Organizations, 
January  19,  1908. 


one  hundred  and  fifth  quorum  of  seventy, 

forest   dale,    salt    lake    county,    UTAH. 

January  19th,  1908. 

We,  some  of  the  sons  of  the  lovely  Ward  of 
Forest  Dale,  in  the  Granite  Stake  of  Zion,  rep- 
resenting the  105th  Quorum  of  Seventy,  take 
this  opportunity  of  thanking  you,  our  beloved 
Bishop  James  Jensen,  for  your  kindness  to  us, 
and  for  the  interest  you  have  taken  in  our  wel- 
fare. We  feel  that  our  association  with  you 
has  made  us  better  men. 

Bishop  Jensen,  you  are  truly  a  father  unto 
the  people  of  this  ward. 

We  love  you  because  of  your  integrity  for 
the  Gospel.  We  love  you  because  you  have 
taught  us  to  love  one  another,  because  you 
have  set  us  the  example,  bidding  us  to  follow. 


172  JAMES  JENSEN. 

We  love  you  because  you  have  always  made 
us  feel  well  in  your  presence. 

We  honor  you  for  your  faithfulness  to  the 
teachings  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ. 

We  thank  our  Heavenly  Father  that  we 
have  been  permitted  to  partake  of  the  influ- 
ence of  one  who  is  possessed  of  so  gentle  a 
spirit  as  you. 

We  pray  to  our  Father  in  Heaven  that  He 
will  spare  you  unto  us  for  many  years ;  that  we 
may  continue  to  feel  encouraged  in  the  Gospel ; 
and  that  we  may  have  the  privilege  of  sustain- 
ing you  as  a  servant  of  God,  and  as  the 
father  of  this  ward. 

F.  V.  Ensign, 
Clarence  M.  Cannon, 
I  Edwin  Wright, 

Geo.  S.  Spencer, 
John  H.  Taylor, 
[  Archibald  Freebairn, 

Eugene  M.  Cannon, 
Jesse  M.  Fox,  Sec'y. 


APPENDIX  C 


173 


IN  THE   FOREST  DALE   ECCLESIASTICAL   WARD. 

JAMES  JENSEN,  BISHOP,  AND  COMMON  JUDGE 

IN  ISRAEL. 


In  relation  to  certain^ 
allegations  and 
charg  e  s  m  ^  d  e 
against  the  or- 
ganization known 
as  the  Sunday 
School  of  Forest 
Dale. 

Involving    the    good 
name    of  James 
Jensen,  Bishop  of 
Forest  Dale. 


This  meeting  having  been  regularly  called 
and  all  parties  being  duly  notified,  and  a  fair 
representation  being  present,  the  said  Sunday 
School,  by  its  officers,  the  superintendency, 
does  hereby  recite  the  charges  made  against 
the  teachers  and  members  of  said  Sunday 
School  and  make  answer. 

It  is  alleged  that  the  Sunday  School  as  a 
whole  admire  Bishop  Jensen;  that  some  of  its 
members    (presumably  the  ladies)    love  him; 


174  JAMES  JENSEN. 

that  some  of  the  aforesaid  body  have  been 
heard  to  express  the  opinion  that  in  the  person 
of  James  Jensen  is  representecf  their  ideal  of  a 
bishop;  that  some  assert  that  humility  and 
meekness  are  pronounced  traits  in  his  charac- 
ter ;  that  he  is  and  at  all  times  has  been  solic- 
itous for  the  welfare  of  the  members  of  his 
v/ard;  that  he  rejoices  with  those  who  rejoice; 
that  he  mourns  with  those  who  mourn ;  that 
with  the  fatherless  he  is  a  father;  that  to  the 
tried  he  is  ever  a  comfort;  to  the  tempted  a 
source  of  strength;  that  he  is  a  man  of  God 
and  a  man  whom  God  delights  to  honor. 

And  now  comes  the  subscribers  to  this  state- 
ment, the  superintendency  of  said  Sunday 
School,  who  hereby  affirm,  that  after  diligent 
and  persistent  enquiry  and  observation,  they 
are  of  the  opinion  that  such  charges  are  well 
founded;  that  they  verily  believe  such  state- 
ments have  been  made ;  and  that  James  Jensen 
is  so  held  and  thought  of  by  the  Sunday  School 
workers;  and  that  we,  the  said  superintend- 
ency, are  hereby  authorized  to  enter  for  the 
said  Sunday  School  workers,  the  plea  of 
''Guilty''  to  the  above  named  charges; 
and  that,  since  they  have  thus  felt  and  ex- 


APPENDIX  C  175 

pressed  themselves  in  regard  to  said  James 
Jensen,  that  we  now  at  this  time,  or  at  any 
time  in  the  future,  hold  ourselves  subject  to 
judgment  and  sentence  of  the  aforesaid  Com- 
mon Judge ;  and  notwithstanding  we  are  ig- 
norant of  the  nature  of  the  penalty  that  he 
shall  meet  out  to  us,  we  do  now  and  ever  shall 
hold  him  to  be  our  Friend,  Bishop,  and  Father. 
Dated  this  the  19th  day  of  January,  1908. 
George  E.  Woolley, 
James  T.  Dunbar, 
Milton  H.  Ross. 


Y.   M.   M.  I.  A. 

Mutual  Improvement  means,  we  each  help 
ourselves  and  all  help  one  another. 

Dear  Bishop,  you  have  helped  the  Mutual 
Improvement  cause  of  Forest  Dale  by  your 
fatherly  interest  in  the  young  people  of  our 
ward. 

We  all  love  you  for  it,  and  want  to  help 
you  make  of  Forest  Dale,  what  you  desire  it 
to  be, — the  home  of  active  workers  for  self- 


176  JAMES  JENSEN. 

betterment  and  mutual  progressron  in  the  ways 
of  God. 

We  are  with  you,  Bishop,  heart  and  soul. 

T.  Albert  Hooper, 
G.  W.  Teudt, 
Clarence  L.  Gardiner, 
G.  Alma  Gardner. 

Y.  L.  M.  I.  A. 

We're  proud  of  our  Bishop 

Because  he's  a  man, — 
A  man  with  great  thoughts  to  impart. 
His  kindness  and  patience 

And  thrift  and  great  love 
Touch  and  appeal  to  each  heart, 
We're  proud,  very  proud  of  our  Bishop. 

His  fine,  busy  life 

Has  urged  all  of  us 
Not  to  be  idle,  but  ever  to  strive 
To  love  well  our  neighbors 

And  treat  well  our  friends. 
Live  just  a  plain,  simple  life. 
— We  learn  very  much  from  our  Bishop, 

Not  only  his  goodness 

Has  won  all  our  hearts. 


APPENDIX  C.  177 

Not  his  wisdom,  nor  yet  his  tact; 

It  is  hard  to  explain 

Why  we  love  him  so  well, 

But  our  love  is  a  well-known  fact, 

— For  to  us  the  Bishop's  the  Bishop. 

Mary  T.   Hendry, 
Emma  Teudt, 
Nettie  Poulton. 


RELIGION  CLASS. 

Bishop  James  Jensen: 

Dear  Brother: — In  behalf  of  the  Religion 
Classes  of  the  "Dale/'  we,  your  brethren,  the 
Presidency,  desire  by  these  tokens  of  our  es- 
teem to  express  the  gratitude  of  the  Religion 
Class  workers  for  the  able  manner  in  which 
you  have  aided  us  in  the  development  of  this 
organization  for  the  advancement  of  the  youth 
of  Zion. 

We  pray  our  Heavenly  Father  to  bless  you 
that  you  may  continue  many  years  with  us,  to 
be  a  blessing  unto  this  people,  as  you  have  been 
in  the  past. 

May  the  peace  that  comes  from  faithful  la- 

13 


178  JAMES  JENSEN. 

bors  be  yours  to  enjoy,  is  the  wish  and  prayer 
of  your  co-laborers  in  the  cause  we  love. 
Orson  W.  Rawlins, 
J.  B.  Hansen, 
J.  W.  Young. 

Presidency. 

LESSER   PRIESTHOOD   organization. 

Bishop  James  Jensen :  We,  the  quorums  of 
the  Lesser  Priesthood,  gratefully  acknowledge 
in  you  our  President.  We  confess  that  our  re- 
sponse to  your  call  has  not  at  all  times  been  as 
praiseworthy  as  th^  occasion  deserved.  But 
your  untiring  efforts  have  made  us  conscious 
that  the  power  and  influence  you  have  exer- 
cised with  us  has  been  "only  by  persuasion,  by 
long  suffering,  by  gentleness,  and  meekness, 
and  by  love  unfeigned." 

By  your  example  we  have  learned  the  spirit 
of  presidency  by  virtue  of  the  Priesthood.  It 
has  enlarged  our  souls.  Our  prayer  for  you  is 
that  the  benediction  of  Heaven  may  extend 


APPENDIX  C  179 

your  life  of  usefulness  with  us  and  give  joy 
to  your  soul  in  its  fruition. 

Harold  Timpson, 

WiLLARD   ASHTON, 

Joseph  Reed, 
Theodore  Tobiason, 
Roy  Parr, 
Alma  Ramseyer, 
Alma  Summerhays, 
Ford  Fairbourn, 
Karl  Miller, 
Frank  Gee, 
P.  J.  Jensen. 

primary  association. 

The  Primary,  the  infant  organization  of  all 
the  organizations,  is  the  foundation  of  the  fu- 
ture advancement  of  our  young,  and  is  the  be- 
ginning of  the  end. 

At  times  when  we  have  felt  discouraged  with 
our  petty  trials,  our  esteemed  Bishop  has  al- 
ways come  to  our  rescue  with  encouragement 
and  fatherly  advice.  His  interest  is  ever  in 
our  behalf,  which  is  a  comfort  and  strength  to 
all  working  under  his  directions. 


180  JAMES  JENSEN. 

We  do  not  wish  to  show  our  appreciation  in 
words  only,  but  also  in  actions.  Our  desire  is 
to  do  our  part  and  his  burdens  lighten.  May 
God  bless  our  Bishop  and  spare  him  to  lead  us 
throughout  our  future  endeavor  to  instruct  and 
enlighten  the  children  of  Zion. 

This  labor  with  the  children 

Is  the  beginning  of  the  end, 
Assisted  by  the  Bishop, 

And  he  is  their  dearest  friend. 

Press  onward,  worthy  Bishop, 
In  this  great  and  glorious  cause. 

For  all  our  children  love  you 
As  a  leader  in  God's  laws. 

May  the  Lord  aid  and  cheer  you, 
Ever  give  you  health  and  strength 

That  you  may  do  your  duty, 
And  be  satisfied  at  length. 

And  if  you  get  discouraged. 

May  the  Lord  some  comfort  lend, — 

Be  with  you,  like  you  to  us. 
The  Primary's  dearest  friend. 

Ida  K.  Coolbear, 
Jessie  Y.  Driggs, 
Mary  C.  Mackay. 


APPENDIX  C  181 


THE  RELIEF  SOCIETY. 


We  feel  that  we  have  been  indeed  slow  to 
extend  our  expressions  of  love  and  encourage- 
ment. 

As  the  Relief  Society  workers,  we  gladly 
take  advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  express 
our  gratitude  to  one  who  has  always  given  us 
so  much  encouragement  by  his  presence  and 
also  by  the  many  kind  suggestions  which,  when 
followed  out,  have  given  rehef  to  the  distressed, 
and  rest  and  peace  to  the  lonely  and  discon- 
solate. 

We  have  appreciated  the  kindness  shown  to 
us  in  so  many  ways,  and  the  tender  greetings 
that  have  cheered  our  path  and  lightelied  our 
burdens  from  year  to  year.  We  know  that 
these  traits  are  gifts  from  God  and  that  there 
are  far  too  few  who  are  in  possession  of  them. 

Your  life  has  been  a  blessing  to  us  and  our 
children.  The  thoughtfulness  and  painstaking 
manner  in  which  every  detail  is  attended  to  by 
you  will  certainly  have  its  effect  upon  our  en- 
tire community. 

We  can  never  repay  you  or  begin  to  do  as 
much  for  you  as  you  have  done  for  us.    While 


182  JAMES  JENSEN. 

life  lasts  or  memory  endures,  we  cannot  for- 
get your  untiring  efforts  to  help  those  in  dis- 
tress. As  we  look  back,  we  see  again  your 
familiar  figure  wending  its  way  through  heat 
or  cold  to  the  homes  of  the  afflicted. 

May  we  ever  be  loyal  to  you  who  have  used 
your  time  and  your  talents  for  our  welfare; 
and  may  we  be  inspired  to  follow  more  fully 
your  example  in  caring  for  those  whom  the 
Lord  delights  to  call  His  own — the  worthy 
poor. 

Petrina  Jensen, 
Addie  M.  Cannon, 
Mary  A.  Young. 


the  choir. 

A  voice  from  the  Choir,  like  a  voice  from  the  soul, 

Onward !    Onward !  it  approaches  its  goal ; 

And  tonight  that  goal,  surely  'tis  to  thee, 

Our  Bishop,  that  our  hearts  give  vent  to  such  glee. 

We  know  we're  thy  children,  blest  of  the  blest, 
And  when  for  thy  pleasure,  we  know  no  rest ; 
And  as  to  our  practice  so  gaily  we  go, 
'Tis  beneath  the  sweep  of  music's  pure  flow. 


APPENDIX  C.  183 

We  sing  and  we  sing  till  the  heavens  do  ring 
With  the  joy  our  hearts  to  you  would  bring, 
Now  tonight  of  all  nights  our  songs  are  for  you, 
Our  Bishop,  our  Father,  our  Friend  so  true. 

James  T.  Dunbar, 

Sadie  Parr, 

G.  Alvin  Coolbear. 


AMUSEMENT  COMMITTEE. 


Bancroft  Lioi&i:;^ 


All  the  members  of  the  youngest  organiza- 
tion of  the  Ward,  the  Amusement  Committee, 
heartily  endorse  the  good  things  contained  in 
the  sentiments  already  expressed;  and  say  to 
Bishop  Jensen,  we  have  appreciated  your  kind- 
ness and  sympathy  in  the  past  very  much,  and 
extend  to  you  willing  hands  and  best  wishes 
for  the  future,  feeling  that  by  reason  of  your 
good  deeds  and  great  kindness  to  all,  the  truths 
expressed  in  the  following  couplet,  will  bring 
their  full  fruition: 


184  '    JAMES  JENSEN. 

"A  kindly  deed  is  a  kernel  sown, 
That  grows  to  a  mighty  tree, 

And  finds  its  way  hereafter  down 
The  gulf  of  Eternity." 

Geo.  Spencer, 
James  T.  Dunbar, 
O.  S.  Squires, 
Carl  F.  Buehner, 
Thomas  O.  Poulton, 
Margaret  Summerhays, 
Geneva  Love, 
Geo.  H.  Vine, 
E.  Parley  Cliff, 
G.  Alvin  Coolbear, 
J.  P.  Olsen. 

THE  elders'   quorum. 

"Near  yonder  copse  where  once  the  garden  smiled 
And  still  where  many  a  garden  flower  grows  wiM, 
There,  where  a  few  torn  shrubs  the  place  disclose. 
The  village  preacher's  modest  mansion  rose, 

A  man  he  was  to  all  the  country  dear, 

And  passing  rich  on  forty  pounds  a  year; 

Remote  from  towns  he  ran  his  godly  race, 

Nor  e'er  had  changed,  nor  wished  to  change  his  place. 


APPENDIX  C  185 

Unpractised  he  to  fawn,  or  seek  for  power 
By  doctrines  fashioned  to  the  varying  hour; 
Far  other  aims  his  heart  had  learned  to  prize — 
More  skilled  to  raise  the  wretched  than  to  rise. 
His  house  was  known  to  all  the  vagrant  train, 
He  chid  their  wanderings,  but  relieved  their  pain. 

Pleased  with  his  guests  the  good  man  learned  to  glow 

And  quite  forget  their  vices  in  their  woe; 

Careless  their  merits  or  their  faults  to  scan 

His  pity  gave  ere  charity  began. 

Thus  to  relieve  the  wretched  was  his  pride. 

And  e'en  his  failings  leaned  to  Virtue's  side. 

But  in  his  duty  prompt  at  every  call. 

He  watched  and  wept,  he  prayed  and  felt  for  all; 

And,  as  a  bird  each  fond  endea**ment  tries 

To  tempt  its  new-fledged  offspring  to  the  skies, 

He  tried  each  art,  reproved  each  dull  delay. 

Allured  to  brighter  worlds  and  led  the  way. 

Beside  the  bed  where  parting  life  was  laid, 
And  sorrow,  guilt  and  pain  by  turns  dismayed, 
The  reverend  champion  stood.    At  his  control 
Despair  and  anguish  fled  the  struggling  soul ; 
Comfort  came  down  the  trembling  wretch  to  raise, 
And  his  last  faltering  accents  whispered  praise. 

At  church,  with  meek  and  unaffected  grace. 
His  looks  adorned  the  venerable  place; 
Truth  from  his  lips  prevailed  with  double  sway. 
And  fools  who  came  to  scoff  remained  to  pray. 


186  JAMES  JENSEN. 

The  service  past,  around  the  pious  man, 

With  ready  zeal  each  honest  rustic  ran ; 

E'en  children  followed  with  endearing  wile. 

And  plucked  his  gown  to  share  the  good  man's  smile. 

His  ready  smile  a  parent's  joy  expressed, 
Their  welfare  pleased  him,  and  their  cares  distrest; 
To  them  his  heart,  his  love,  his  griefs  were  given, 
But  all  his  serious  thoughts  had  rest  in  heaven. 
As  some  tall  cliff  that  lifts  its  awful  form, 
Swells  from  the  vale,  and  midway  leaves  the  storm. 
Though  round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  are  spread, 
Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head." 

— Goldsmith's  Deserted  Village. 

M.  C.  Morris,. 
F.  W.  Cope, 

J.    RODEN. 

Bishop  James  Jensen: 

Dear  Brother  : — As  your  counselors,  we  have 
worked  with  you  for  twelve  years,  in  the  Cause 
of  Christ. 

May  we  not  hope  to  say  as  Paul  said, 
"I  am  persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor 
life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers, 
nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
height  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall 


APPENDIX  C  187 

be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God, 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  our  Lord/' 
Your  brethren, 

Royal  B.  Young, 
James  Hendry. 
January  19,  1908. 

We  have  audited  the  foregoing  and  find  it 

correct. 

M.  C  Morris, 
Geo.  S.  Spencer, 
Auditing  Committee. 

Forest  Dale,  January  19,  1908. 


188  JAMES  JENSEN. 


FAMILY  GENEALOGY. 

James  Jensen,  born  June  7,  1841. 

M.   J.    Petrina   Sorensen   Jensen,   wife,   born 

Sept.  28,  1846. 
Marie  Madsen  Jensen,  wife,  born  March  12, 

1855;  died  August  11,  1891. 

CHILDREN   OF   JAMES   AND   MARIE   JENSEN. 

Josephine  J.,  born  Dec.  12,  1873;  died  Oct.  23, 

1898. 
James  N.,  born  Mar.  21,  1875. 
Alfred  C,  born  Nov.  24,  1876. 
Esther  P.,  born  Aug.  28,  1878. 
Wm.  H.,  born  Dec.  26,  1880. 
Annie  M.,  born  Nov.  3,  1882. 

MARRIAGE  OF  CHILDREN  AND  THEIR  ISSUE. 

James  N.  and  Lena  Struberg  J  ens  on,  married 

Feb.  12,  1903: 
Gale  S.,  born  June  29,  1904. 
Myrla  E.,  born  July  27,  1905. 
Lena  Marie,  born  Mar.  19,  1907. 
James  S.,  born  Nov.  27,  1910. 


FAMILY  GENEALOGY.  189 

Alfred  C,  and  Melvina  Nielsen  Jensen,  mar- 
ried  Oct.  8,  1^04: 

Melvina  Nielson  Jensen,  died  May  10,  1911. 
Ora  Lucile,  born  Sept.  14,  1905. 
Ardella,  born  Oct.  22,  1908. 

Esther  P.  and  Frank  Roux,  married  Sept,  6, 
ipo6. 

Wm.  H'.  and  Katie  Vilate  Cunningham  Jensen, 
married  Oct.  25,  ip02: 

James  Vivian,  born  Dec.  30,  1903;  died  Jan. 
13,  1908. 

Lueen  Young,  born  March  27,  1906. 

Alibo  Petrina,  born  January  11,  1908. 

Joseph  WilHam,  born  May  15,  1909. 

Genevieve,  born  October  10,  1910. 

Ila  Mary  Powell,  foster  child,  born  Septem- 
ber 20,  1897. 

Annie  M.  and  Soren  P.  Neve,  married  October 
jj,  ipoo: 

Elliott  James,  born  Feb.  10,  1904. 
Soren  P.  Byron,  born  Dec.  30,  1905. 
Charleen  Marie,  born  May  10,  1911. 


190  JAMES  JENSEN. 

CHILDREN  OF  JACOB  PETER  OLSEN,  FOSTER  CHILD 
OF  JAMES  AND  M.  J.  PETRINA  JENSEN. 

Jacob  Peter  and  IsabeUe  Ross  Wilson  Olsen, 
married  Oct.  12,  1882: 

Isabelle  Christina,  born  Aug.  16,  1883. 

Effie  Lauretta,  born  June  1,  1885. 

Cora,  born  Nov.  15,  1887. 

Rena,  born  April  22,  1890. 

Alice  Margaret,  born  Aug.  24,  1892. 

James  Verne,  born  Dec.  20,  1894. 

Vera  Pearl,  born  Dec.  20,  1894;  died  Aug.  16, 

1903. 
Edith,  born  Aug.  21,  1897. 
Ada  Josephine,  born  Mar.  30,  1900. 
Ross  Wilson,  born  July  5,  1904. 


